Ascending Into Darkness
by XxBlackChaosxX
Summary: [AU] What did Konoha have left for them, anyway? Nothing but ill memories of blood and pain. The best thing for them would be to go and join the Akatsuki, where they could exact their revenge. DeiSaku, SasuSaku, NaruSaku, ItaSaku, GaaSaku, Rated M!
1. Chapter 1: Gaara of the Sand

**This is my first ever Naruto fic, so I apologize if the characters are OOC or if I get names and traits of the Akatsuki members mixed up. I haven't even got that high in the episodes yet –sweatdrop- and so if I get personalities horribly wrong, just tell me, okay? Thanks. Oh, and here's a summary for people (like me) that don't read the first one: **

**Category:**** Naruto**

**Title:** **Fade to Black**

**Genre:**** Romance/Action/Adventure**

**Rating****: T for starters, but I might raise it depending on what happens and how I word it…**

**Pairings:**** SakuraSauke, NarutoHinata, TemariShikamaru, GaaraSakura, mild ItachiSakura, DeidaraSakura, (No, Sakura's not a whore, this is all happening slowly, over great amounts of time)**

**Warning****: There's no yaoi in this fic at all, so GET BACK YAOI FANGIRLS! Don't bother trying to suggest it to me, 'cause I'm not gonna listen. If you find something you think is yaoi, it's your own perverted self. **

* * *

**Chapter 1: Gaara of the Sand**

He had heard about them, but he never pictured himself joining them. Until the day came when he got to thinking. You join them, and you get to kill. You don't have to worry about getting into trouble—you're _supposed _to kill people. That way, he got all the blood Mother wanted. The demon inside him would silence for at least a little while, and maybe they could seal it. Maybe there were others like him. Maybe he could learn how to control it.

But what about the village he worked for? He was their ultimate weapon. He didn't care about them, anyway. They had cast him out, attempted to kill him. Why should _he _care what happened to them? They were lower then he, and he had a demon within him.

And so, he decided to join them. He ad arranged to meet one of them on the cliff overlooking Konoha. Midnight. He patiently waited, watching the sleeping village. It was cold, but he hardly took notice. He was supposed to meet the strongest member. Yes, they were all strong, but this one was by far the strongest. Uchiha, they said. Itachi Uchiha. The man that killed the entire Uchiha clan, save for Uchiha Sasuke. No one knew his motives for saving his brother. That was a secret that would forever be held between the two Uchiha brothers.

He felt the Uchiha's powerful Chakra long before he showed. He ignored it.

Itachi appeared behind Gaara and gently placed his hand on the Sand-boy's shoulder. "Gaara," he whispered. Gaara nodded.

* * *

The Akatsuki base was smaller and more hidden then Gaara would've expected or preferred. He remained silent, looking the place over. He could've cared less about the people, but he watched them as well. The Uchiha remained silent and impassive, and so there were no introductions. It didn't matter. Just because they were all teammates didn't mean they had to be best buds, too. 

Itachi beckoned him to follow. Gaara did as he was told. The Uchiha led him into a smaller corridor that forced a claustrophobic fear on Gaara. He ignored it, anticipating where Itachi was leading him. The corridor came to an end. Itachi placed his hand on the door. Only a second later, it swung open to reveal a room much bigger then Gaara had expected. It was about the size of Konoha itself. But it was completely empty. Itachi continued walking, and Gaara followed. They had taken a right and were following the 'stadium' until it led to another door. Itachi repeated the hand step, and the door swung open. He turned to Gaara, motioned for him to stay.

Impatiently and unwillingly, Gaara turned his back and waited.

And waited.

_What the hell? _Gaara thought to himself. He risked a glance over his shoulder. At that moment, a kunai was thrown in his direction. He coolly moved his head a fraction—enough to miss the kunai completely. He removed the cork on his gourd and allowed the sand to fall. He squinted in the darkness, trying to figure out who had thrown the kunai. But he could see nothing. He remained calm, as normal, and just waited. Arms crossed and feet apart, Gaara turned the other way.

Another kunai came his way, this time followed by hundreds more. With a single and simple hand movement, the sand on the floor rose up and hardened around him in the shape of a sphere. There was a crack between two side of the sphere where he peered out to try and see his attacker.

The person stepped out of the shadows and into Gaara's point of view. Was it a girl or boy? From both the distance and the darkness, there was no way of telling for sure. The boy (or so he assumed) he blonde hair and blue eyes. The former was tied back in a high ponytail. His bangs jutted out away from his head and covered his left eye. He had a wide, mouthy smile on his face. He wore the same cloak as Itachi and the others.

The boy held up his right hand and whispered something. A small mouth traveled down his arm and body and toward Gaara. He watched it intently as it scurried over to him and stopped dead in front of him. The blonde Akatsuki boy whispered another jutsu, and the spider exploded.

Gaara took the blow willingly. A flew through the air and landed firmly on his feet a few yards away. Eager for the fight, the Akatsuki boy ran forward. Gaara began the signals for the jutsu. The sand flew all around and circle the boy. He ran, and so Gaara aimed for his limbs. He caught his arms. "Sand Coffin," Gaara whispered, and the sand exerted all its pressure on the arms. The Akatsuki screamed in pain, trying to break free. But Gaara wasn't going to let go. Not now. He was bloodthirsty.

Before anything else had a chance to happen, Itachi broke the sand bonds. He looked over to Gaara "That's enough," he told him, "we've accepted you." Gaara forced his back to them. The sand slowly began to fill the gourd, which was followed by the cork.

He was shaking. Mother was excited. She wanted more. But he had to keep her inside. He couldn't let her take over. Not now.

She sent pangs of pain through his mind. He shouted and held his head, trying to forced her back in. She sent more painful strikes through him. He could hear the whirring sand within his own mind. He yelled out in pain, collapsing to his knees. The pain, as usual, was too much to bear.

A cold hand touched his shoulder. Judging by the Chakra it exerted, it was Itachi. The Uchiha turned Gaara around, prepared for something. Gaara was near unconsciousness now, and _it _was on the verge of taking over. Itachi's separate fingers glowed. He pulled Gaara's shirt off, jabbed his stomach as hard as he could.

Gaara screamed out in pain, but the pain caused by _her _was slowly fading. What had Itachi done to her?

A seal formed on Gaara's stomach. It was similar to the one used on the Kyubbi, but slightly weaker. This seal looked as though someone had placed bleeding hands on his bare skin and dragged them down. The marks themselves were red—a slightly weaker color then black.

At the moment the seal formed and showed itself, Gaara noticed Itachi fall into an incredibly deep state of weakness. The Uchiha swayed, placed a hand to his head. He lost control and fell onto Gaara, panting. With shock, Gaara realized Itachi had used almost all of his Chakra in forming the seal. If he had done any more, the Uchiha would've died.

Gaara's breathing was coming in short bursts of both pain and shock. He could no longer feel the demon within him. What had Itachi done to it? Next thing he knew, all was black.

* * *

A few hours later, or what seemed like a few hours later, Gaara awoke. For a moment, he knew nothing. But, slowly, everything started coming back to him. He remembered the monster within him, begging for more blood. He remembered trying to fight it off…Suddenly, he remembered Itachi hitting him in the stomach. Why had the sand not protected him? He was overcome with a cold, lonely feeling, and he realized what had happened. The demon. Itachi had sealed it away. It was gone. 

Rubbing his eyes, Gaara swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked around the room he was in. It was carved out the side of the mountain where the base was hidden. It was made of rock. There were no windows, no light. But it was bright in the room…

Gaara shoved the question out of his mind and looked around for his clothes. On the bed, he noticed, was the red and black Akatsuki cloak, as well as a kunai and his forehead protector. Gaara took the kunai and sliced it along the forehead protector without hesitation. What was there for him to want to go back to, anyway? Gaara threw the Akatsuki cloak over his clothes, collected his gourd which had been on the right side of his bed, and strapped the sliced forehead protector on the strap of his gourd. Upon a continuation of looking around, Gaara realized there was a nightstand on the left side of the bed. There was a note on it as well, addressed to him. Gaara read it.

_Gaara: _

_You're to stay here until Itachi-san awakens from recuperating. It'll take about 2-3 days, so have fun where you're at. Itachi will come to you when he awakes. And every morning, you'll find a tray of food on the nightstand. Don't try to leave—we've sealed off the exits. Good luck staying sane. _

The letter ended without a name. Had Itachi himself wrote the letter? No, Itachi had fallen unconscious when Gaara himself had. So what was there to do for two days? There was no way of leaving—they had sealed off all the exits…

But he could keep an eye on Itachi with one of his jutsus. He could look for a crack in the walls—any at all—and then all he'd have to do was find Itachi. Yes, that's what he would do. At least he'd be able to predict how much longer he'd have to stay in the enclosed area. It would keep him from falling deeper into insanity, and it would also give him hope. Hope that Itachi hadn't killed himself in the process of sealing away the demon.

* * *

The next few hours passed by painfully slow as Gaara searched every bit of the room for some sort of crack in the wall. Eventually, he was glad to note, he found one. Gaara activated the eye-jutsu and sent it through the crack in the wall.

It made it through! He was able to get the eye to the other side, the outside of the room. There were two people standing guard outside his room, probably there to keep him in. Gaara was used to that, though, and so he paid them no mind. He slipped the eye in between them and ran it through the halls of the Akatsuki headquarters.

Eventually, after waiting outside each door for hours, Gaara was able to find which one Itachi was behind. He had cast another jutsu so that the eye could see but no be seen. The eye flowed down to Itachi and focused on him.

Pangs of guilt ran through Gaara when he realized Itachi's condition. He was near death—he was so low on Chakra, breathing drastically lowered his levels. Gaara watched the Uchiha for what seemed like hours before he started to pray.

It was only the second time in his life he had ever cared about someone so much before. The second time in his life his heart hurt at the sight of another person critically hurt. But what was there for him to do, besides pray? He wasn't even sure if he believe in a god, but he was praying to one anyway. He wasn't very connected to the man, but something he had done left a mark beneath Gaara's skin. What was it? Why was he so worried about the Uchiha now that he was so drastically hurt?

It was because Itachi had had the courage to almost sacrifice himself for someone he hardly knew. He was willing to seal away the demon within Gaara—no matter what the cost. Why had the Uchiha been so…suicidal about his life. Why exactly had Itachi sealed the demon away? Was it because he knew what the demon could do? Had the Akatsuki followed him longer then he knew they existed? Exactly how much did they know about him? Was everything that had happened yesterday—or whenever it had actually happened—staged? Had Itachi been planning this from the beginning?

The anger finally taking effect, Gaara called off the jutsu and returned to his room. There was a crack in the wall that the sand could get through…What if he was to turn himself into sand, and go through as well? Even if he did, there were the two guards outside his door he had to worry about. He wasn't sure he could take them both on without killing them.

So what options were left for him? None. He had to wait in the room, alone, as the letter as instructed him. There was no other option. He could see how Itachi was doing if he felt the need, but after recalling his previous thoughts, he found he was no longer interested in the Uchiha.

Growling, Gaara removed the gourd and placed it on the right side of his bed where it had been before. He lie down on the bed, face down, and quickly fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

He was awoken shortly after his sleep by Itachi. He collected his gourd and slung it around his back, not even looking at the Uchiha. Anger was simmering inside…What was there to say that wouldn't be swears and questions he knew Itachi wouldn't answer? Gaara clenched his teeth together in an angry attempt at calming himself. It didn't help much.

Itachi brought him to the room he was to sleep in. He had to share one with the blonde haired boy. The one he had fought. Deidara, he had learned. Itachi dumped Gaara off there with Deidara. He kept his distance—he didn't like his roommate very much. Deidara hardly ever said anything to him, but when he did, they were one-word commands. Once, Gaara grew tired of Deidara and asked him, "Are you mad at me because I nearly blew your arms off?" Deidara's commands ended after that.

Aside from sharing the room with Deidara, Gaara trained with Itachi. At first, he despised the Uchiha, but after a while of being with him and him alone, Gaara realized how much of a genius Itachi was. He also realized what the seal had done to the sand—it was no longer able to protect him of his own accord. He had to cast jutsus if he wanted it to do that. It was a slow process, having to learn so much he had missed out on, but Gaara enjoyed the time spent with Itachi.

Itachi was silent more often then not like Gaara himself. He preferred to do something at his own pace then when they were expected to be done. He loved training, and soon that additude rubbed off on Gaara. Although seriously behind, he enjoyed learning the techniques with Itachi.

He was a good teacher, Itachi. Whenever Gaara got something right, Itachi would praise him, but not to the point where he felt like a child. And when he did something wrong, Itachi would simply point out his mistakes and run him through the steps again. There was no embarrassing insults, no loss of temper, no nothing. Itachi was always perfectly calm. He knew how far Gaara could go, and only pushed him a bit farther then that. Itachi didn't complain that he should be stronger—they just continued with their training as though it didn't actually matter.

There was one other thing Gaara had to learn that was almost impossible to teach: emotions. Because the demon had been sealed away, his emotions were more clear and easier to read and identify. But that didn't mean Gaara knew what they were or why they had come. It was a hard thing for Itachi to teach and for Gaara to learn because everyone took emotions differently and Gaara had gone without them for thirteen years. There was always more to learn…

After the training sessions, he and Itachi would go for lunch. The food was usually bland and gross-looking, but no one ever complained. Gaara silently ate the food, glancing from side to side at everyone attending. He was learning the names quite well: there was Zetsu, the green and black plant-man that loved eating things like a venus flytrap; there was Sasori, the red-headed puppeteer who went on missions with Deidara; there was Kisame, Itachi's mission partner, a half-man half-shark creature who could survive in both lands; and there was Hidan, the immortal. Anyone else Gaara hadn't gotten down yet. He spent most of his time with Itachi, _away _from everyone else, and so there was no time to learn names. But then again, what did it matter? He was there to train and kill.

When the time came that Itachi had to leave on a mission, Gaara was left feeling alone and abandoned. He sulked around the base for a while, before he became bored. He was desperate for something to happen. So desperate, in fact, he went off in search of Deidara. For what? A fight, maybe.

He finally found his target in their room. Gaara opened the door, entered. Deidara looked up briefly, but looked down when he knew who had entered. Deidara was sitting there, just staring at the mouths on his hands. His arms had been critically wounded by Gaara's attack, and so they were put up in slings.

Gaara made his way to his bed, dropped his gourd on the floor beside the bed, and sat down on the bed, facing Deidara. For a moment, all was silent. Then, "I'm pretty useless now, thanks to you." Gaara gave a small token of acknowledgement by looking his way. He remained silent and impassive. Deidara chuckled. "You've learned much from Itachi-san, hm?" Gaara remained silent. There wasn't anything to say. Instead of falling silent, Deidara plowed on, "Why do you never speak, Gaara-san, hm?"

Gaara looked down to the ground, closed his eyes. "When I was born, I killed my mother. I was 'bestowed' with the sand. I was cursed with the demon Itachi sealed away. The sand was the ultimate shield—it protected me without my doing anything at all. Even if I didn't want it to.

"My father was Kazekage-sama. I was left alone and spoiled with whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. I thought that was love.

"By the age of six, I was classified as a dangerous being. The sand altered my control of my emotions, and they soon figured that out. Kazekage had people try and kill me numerous times. I found that as well as protecting myself, the sand could kill. I felt that whenever I killed, I felt truly alive. And my philosophy was this: if there was always more people to kill in this world other then myself, the world was perfect. That was my soul purpose of living.

"But then I traveled to Konoha and I met these people…Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke himself. They both fought valiantly in their own way. Naruto possesses the Kyuubi, and Sasuke's lived up to the Uchiha name." Gaara sighed, fell silent. "And, eventually, I chose to come here myself." Gaara looked up to Deidara. Deidara caught his eye, looked away quickly. Gaara stood, made to leave the room. Deidara stopped him.

"Where are you going, un?"

Gaara didn't look back. "I know someone who can heal your arms."

"Let me go with you, hm."

"No, too dangerous." Gaara threw the cloak onto the bed, took his gourd, and said, "I'll be back soon." And with that, he left, leaving Deidara speechless.

* * *

**A/n**

**So, what do ya think? This is my first ever Naruto fic, and if I get anything wrong, just tell me! Next chapter: Haruno Sakura. **


	2. Chapter 2: Haruno Sakura

**Chapter 2: Haruno Sakura**

She had trained with Tsunade. She had become stronger. Her Chakra focus was greater then Sasuke and Naruto's combined. She was able to heal any wound, save for the eyes. She had proven herself better then Tsunade-sama. She was the best healer then was.

Sakura was living a good life with her teammates. She and Sasuke had gotten closer (albeit he still wouldn't go out with her) and Naruto had finally found refuge in Hinate. Shikamaru and Temari had finally gotten into a relationship as well. Everyone was happy and content with their lives.

Until, this is, Gaara had come back. Sakura was taking a calming walk to the cliff overlooking Konoha.It was one of the most peaveful places she knew, and so she wasn't expecting Gaara to show up. She had totally let her guard down. Sakura had felt the odd, murderous Chakra seconds before she turned around.

And right there, inches from her face, was his, stairing directly into her eyes. Sakura gasped and jumped back, made to grab a kunai. Gaara didn't move. "I need your healing skills," he said simply.

Sakura losened her stance. "Are you hurt?" Gaara didn't reply. He turned his back to her and started to walk away. Sakura stood there for a moment, then decided to follow.

They didn't walk very long before Gaara stopped and turned to face her. Unsure of what to do, she tensed up again. It's a long travel," he told her. "I can transport us both, if you're willing." Sakura nodded instantly. She walked over to Gaara, clung onto him. Gaara muttered the jutsu, and she felt the grains of sand whir around her in a mad torrent. She closed her eyes and clung to him tighter.

In a flash, they were there. Sakura opened her eyes to see a wide cave. It was on the ground, digging deep into the earth. _We're going down _there? She thought to herself. _Who's done there? Better yet, _what's _down there? _She gulped hard, thinking. _Why would Gaara lead me here? _She thought as she looked over to him. Upon looking at him, she realized with shock that he had sliced over the Sand Village symbol. Her eyes widened with fear. She gasped and turned to run.

Gaara appeared right in front of her, where she had been running. He grabbed her, one hand over her mouth, and dragged her down into the cave.

Much to her surprise, the cave didn't go down as she had expected. It was an illusion, she knew. The cave actually went straight through to a mountain that was about 25 yards away. It was moldy and dark, but Sakura was more occupied with punching any bit of Gaara she could get to. After one painful, Chakra-embedded punch, Gaara's loosened, and he said to her, "If you cooperate, I'll let you live. If not," he shrugged. "I don't care if you're dead." Sakura's eyes widened. She fell limp - Gaara wasn't bluffing.

Gaara proceeded to drag her through the cave until they came to a blockade. Gaara touched it with the hand covering Sakura's mouth, then slammed the hand back down on her mouth. She watched as the boulders rolled and slid out of the way to reveal a large opening. Gaara followed it, where light suddenly appeared. It was as though they had appeared into another place...

The first room they were in looked as though it was used as some sort of kitchen. It had one big, long table where, it seemed, everyone sat. They passed this room completely, where Gaara followed another tunnel. Shortly, he stopped at the first door that had appeared on their left. He opened it, walked inside.

There was someone in the room already, sitting on a bed on the right-hand side of the room. He was looking down at his hands. Both of his arms were in slings. The boy himself had long blonde hair that was tied up. He covered his left eye with it.

The boy looked up. He had brillant blue eyes that reminded Sakura of Naruto. Pangs of guilt and regret ran through her. She closed her eyes and let her head fall limp.

Next thing she knew, she was flying through the air, and collided into the sitting boy. Sakura opened her eyes when the pain xame and looked around. She pushed herself up off the boy, appologized profusely. She turned to Gaara, but found that he was on the other bed, watching her, sand out, alert.

Sakura turned back to the boy. "I'm Sakura. Sorry 'bout..._him_," she took another angry glance to Gaara.

"Deidara," the boy muttered. "Are you gonna heal me or not, um?"

Sakura nodded and began the process of removing the sling and cast from Deidara's left arm. She took one look at it and knew who had done this to him. She stared down at the broken arm, frozen in thought. Deidara snapped her out of it when he said, "Something wrong?"

Sakura looked up and over to where Gaara was. He wasn't there. Sakura turned to Deidara and said, "Gaara did this to you, didn't he?" Deidara nodded. Sakura sighed. "It'll take a while before both your arms will be perfectly healed. But I'll do as much as I can." She closed her eyes and focused. She saw Deidara's healing arm in her mind. If it was left to heal on its own, he'd go almost two years without arms.

Sakura knew how to exert her Chakra slowly so that things worked better and faster, and she also knew when to tell she was running too low. But she was distracted, thinking about Gaara and Deidara themselves. She felt her Chakra getting low, but because she wasn't exactly paying attention, she thought she had more. She also thought she was bringing it out as slow as she normally did, but she was actually bringing it out at a rapid speed. She denied the signals her body was giving her and continued on healing.

Her Chakra stopped abruptly. Although she normally had strong Chakra, she had used too much too fast - she wasn't as focused as she normally was. She was unable to continue the healing any further. She had used up every last bit of Chakra she had. Sakura's eyes rolled to the top of her head, and she collapsed.

* * *

Next thing she knew, she was staring into the eyes of both Gaara and Deidara. "She's alive!" Deidara shouted playfully.

Sakura moaned, sat up, and rubbed her right eye. "Are you two the only ones in existance or what?"

"Most everyone is out on a mission. I was left because of my arms, and Gaara's still got to train before he can do missions, um."

"So then what are we going to do?" Her stomach growled, and she wraped her arm around it.

"Hungry?" Deidara teased with a smile. Sakura frowned.

"We're the only three in this place?"

"Execpt for the cook, un. We're the only ones in the whole Akatsuki clan that are completely useless."

Sakura drew her legs up, held them close. "Does this mean I'm a member now, too?"

All was silent for a moment, then, "Most likely. But if you think we're way out of your league..." Deidara smirked.

_I'll be the best healer you've ever seen, damn it! _Inner Sakura shouted at him. She repeated what her inner self had said, grabbing Deidara by the cuff of his cloak.

Deidara chuckled. "Fiesty, are we?" He raised his healed arm to her face, opened his hand. Frozen, Sakura just stared into his eyes. She waited, listening to a forigen sound of something moist opening. Seconds later, a moist surface touched her cheek, dragged itself up.

Sakura screamed, pushed Deidara back, and used the force to fall onto the back wall. Inner Sakura shouted, _You freak! What _was _that? _But Sakura remained silent. She thought to herself, _What sort of power does he have? _She waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Deidara just got back up, muttering something too quiet to understand.

Gaara stood, made to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Sakura asked him in the polite tone she used only for Sasuke.

"Hungry," he said simply. Sakura followed him out and, much to her dismay, found that Deidara was going along as well, trailing along behind her. A nervous feeling swept through her, starting from the rear. Anger swept into Sakura. Deidara was looking at her ass! Sakura resisted the strong desire to spin around and punch him as hard as she could. Instead, she continued on following Gaara, as though she was oblivious to his staring.

Gaara led them out of the dorrifor. Right there, as they entered the room, was where Gaara had taken her through before. He sat down at the table, seemingly waiting. Deidara explained in a hushed voice, "He's used to someone bringing his food to him, hm. Damn Itachi spoiled him." Fear ran down her spine as realization hit. Itachi was in the clan as well. Uchiha Itachi. Sakura froze where she stood. "Can you cook, Sakura?" She looked over to Deidara, nodded. "Good. Door to the kitchen is right there, un." He pointed to it. Sakura looked over, nodded. "Make us something, will you?" Almost mechanically, Sakura followed the door, went inside.

There was only one person inside the kitchen. She had light blue eyes and raven hair. The lady looked very sickly and pale, as though she poured her lifesource into everything the Akatsuki ate. She had been sitting with her head down; she only barely lifted her head when Sakura entered.

Sakura rushed to the woman, looked her over. She was so sickly and frail, she looked to be in her late seventies. "My name is Haruno Sakura," Sakura whispered to the woman.

"Uri," the woman croaked.

"What's wrong with you? Why do you look so - ?"

"Old?" Uri finished. She chuckled. "The Akatsuki use my Chakra to make better, more nutritious food. The more energy in it, the faster they heal."

Sakura gasped. "And you've been doing this willingly?"

"Of course," Uri answered. "I'm a member of the Akatsuki. I joined a few years before you. And I give my Chakra so willingly because it's so large. I've been doing this for fifty years - I _am _old."

"Will I have to do the same?"

"It's your _choice, _Sakura. They can't force you to if you're unwilling - it makes the Chakra unusable." With that, Uri fadded away.

Shaken, Sakura collected the remaining Chakra from Uri's body. It amazed her how much there was. Sakura then propped Uri up in the chair. She looked peaceful, almost like she was asleep. Sighing, Sakura set about the kitchen. What to make? She assumed it was sometime in the morning now, so the perfect meal would be...

Pancakes!

* * *

A few minutes later, Sakura opened the door, hands full with the pancakes in their tray and the dishes they were to eat off of, and brought them over to Gaara and Deidara. She handed them plates and silverware. The two of them were silent. She dropped the plate of pancakes between them and sat beside Deidara, whose mouths were licking their lips. She was still unnerved by them, but tried not to show it. When she noticed Deidara was holding back, she said, "Dig in!"

Deidara, who had been waited for the signal, plowed through the food. Gaara calmly took to pancakes and set them on his plate. Sakura didn't take any.

Deidara, after a few minutes, calmed his eating to a slower pace. He continued chewing, turned to Sakura, said to her with his mouth full of food, "Aren't yoo gonna eat Fakura-fan?"

Sakura smiled, shook her head. "I'm not hungry." She stared down at the quickly-dissapearing pile of pancakes.

"C'mon, eat." Deidara handed her his fork, which had several layers of pancakes on it. Sakura look at the fork, her mouth watering. She had always preferred to eat alone, which was why she had initally rejected the food. Deidara waved the fork in front of her face. Soon, the temptations became unbearable. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped when Deidara shoved the fork into her mouth. Sakura instantly closed it, pulled the fork back out, keeping the pancakes for herself. She thrust the fork at Deidara who took it, chuckling.

Sakura chewed the food and swallowed. Her cooking was...good! She had never tasted her own before. Sakura plowed through the food along with Deidara.

Soon enough, the pancakes were gone. "More?" Sakura tempted Deidara and Gaara as she chewed down the last bit she had. She knew the answer already. The three of them were stuffed beyond capacity.

"Ugh," Deidara answered. Gaara nodded.

"What now?" She asked the both of them.

"Itachi and Kisame aren't expected to be back for at least another tweleve hours, so..." Deidara's voice drifted off.

"Itachi?" Sakura repeated, gulping.

Deidara nodded. "Uchiha Itachi. Do you know him?"

The Sharingan stared back at her through her thoughts. Sakura shudderd. Sasuke's deep fear of his older brother had rubbed off on her over the years. She had been kidnapped by him before, and that was enough to instill the fear. Sakura shook her head feverishly. "N-no. I just like the name." She looked away.

Sakura felt Deidara's piercing blue eyes falling on her. He knew, or at least suspected, she knew Itachi somehow. Sakura didn't look back to him.

"What do you want to do now, un?" Deidara asked her.

"Can we go outside? I need fresh air."

"We can't leave the place unattended. But I'll go with you." Deidara turned to Gaara. "Can you guard the place?" Gaara nodded. Both Deidara and Sakura stood. "We won't be long, un." The two of them departed.

* * *

Sakura followed Deidara through the labrynth that was the Akatsuki base. Sakura commented on it, and Deidara replied, "It was designed that way to dissuade intruders - get them lost. Then while they wonder around aimlessly, one of us will catch them. But don't worry - after a while, you get used to it. Especially when you walk in and out as much as I do, un."

He led her to the exit door, stopped. "I must warn you, Sakura-chan, just because I have only one arm doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me. You won't get very far if you decide to try and run away. You won't make it back to Konoha alive."

Sakura's face darkened. He had seen through her plan from the beginning. The Akatsuki - even those who were critically wounded - were a force to be trifled with. They were smart, cunning, constantly alert. Deidara had analized her while she was pre-occupied. How had he figured it out? Why clues did she give? "Deidara-san, why would you think I'd do that?" Sakura attempted to dissuade him.

Deidara didn't answer. He grabed her arm, opened the door, and escorted her outside.

* * *

He brought her up a tree by the entrance and sat on the branch. Sakura sat beside him, listening to the counds of nature all around her. Normally, she never had the time to just sit and think, but now that she was given the oppertunity, Sakura decided to take advantage of it.

Ocasionally, she risked a glance over to Deidara. And every time she did, he was staring down at the mouth on his healed left arm, deep in thought.

Eventually, Sakura grew tired of the silence between them. She pushed herself over closer to Deidara, so that their arms were touching. Deidara glanced up at her briefly. Sakura was staring down at the mouth on his hand in pure amazement. The mouths - although they unsettled her - were fasinating little things. "Were you born with them?" She asked him.

Deidara nodded. "I've got on on my chest too, but I had it sealed shut, un."

"Why?"

"Don't need it and it tore up all my shirts, un."

"What do they do?"

"Wanna see?" Sakura looked up into Deidara's visible eye and nodded. Diedara opened his cloak and took a bit of clay out of a pouch. "Watch," he instructed her as he molded the clay into a round ball. He then fed the ball to the mouth. It hungrily ate the clay, spat it back out. But now it was a baby bird. The bird cheeped and hopped around Deidara's hand gleefully.

Sakura cooed, "It's adorable!" The chick hopped onto her lap and explored. It found a nice spot and lay down. Deidara formed a seal, and the bird exploded in a cloud of clay-dust. When the dust cleared, the chick was gone and replaced with a full-grown egret. It flew from Sakura's lap and onto a nearby branch, where it acted like a normal bird. Deidara formed another seal, and the egret exploded like a grinade. Sakura stared at where the bird had been. "Impressive," she said to him.

"Art's a bang, isn't it?"

Sakura nodded, then all fell silent. For a while, the silence continued. But then, Sakura broke the silence when she said, "Deidara-san, I was thinking an...I mean, I didn't really want to ask, but I have to know." She looked up from twidling her thumbs and into Deidara's eyes. "Why...? No, what provoked you to join the Akatsuki?"

Deidara frowned, looked away. "I used to live peacefully in my village. I had no intention of leaving my home, until _he _knew my skills, un. He, at first, asked me directly. I refused. I didn't want to leave. I was happy, un.

"After a while of refusals, he took action. He killed everyone dear to me, causing me to fall into an outsider. From there, I had no choice but to join, un."

"And who forced you to do that?"

Deidara looked up suddenly, studied the forest. Sakura looked up as well. She could feel the powerful Chakra already - he wasn't inclined to hide it. Before he showed up, Deidara whispered, "Uchiha Itachi. _He _ruined my life. Don't expect us to be the best of friends."

"What are we going to do?"

Deidara thought fast. "Hide in the trees. I'll improvise as we go along, un." Sakura nodded and jumped off to another tree. She concealed both herself and her Chakra and hoped Deidara had come up with a good plan.

The -two - men came into view. One of them was all blue and carried a sword. The other was none other the Uchiha Itachi. He was a good-looking man in his own right, with long raven hair tied back. His Sharingan was activated - he always had it that way. It bore the three black points that had burned a hole in Sakura's memory. She had always known he was the sucessor of the Uchiha clan. He was perfectly calm, not wounded from his mission at all. Sakura's heart leapt. Undefeatable, unnerving, and beautiful. Could the Uchiha clan get any better?

"Kisame! Itachi-san!" Deidara shouted from his position as he jumped to the ground. "Back so early?"

"What are you doing out here?" The blue man, Kisame, asked Deidara.

"Just sitting, un."

"And where's Gaara?"

"Inside."

Sakura gulped. Kisame was slowly working the answer out of Deidara. A brief glance to Itachi proved the worst. He had his eyes closed. Itachi knew Sakura was there. Her heart almost stopped.

Before she was aware of what was happening, Itachi threw a kunai in her direction. It sheared off a lock of hair, but missed. Frozen, the only thing Sakura could think to do was look behind her. And when she did, she met the eyes of Itachi. Sakura screamed in surprise. But before she could do anything, Itachi activated Mangekyou Sharingan. She couldn't look away from the little dots that were now a three-pronged sphere.

_The colors were inverted. That was the first thing she noticed. There was only red, black, and white. The second thing she noticed was that Inner Sakura was there along with her. Itachi was a few hundred feet away from the two of them, where they had been tied to poles. Itachi took out several shruiken in one hand and three kunai in the other. He first threw the shruiken at Sakura's inner self. Sakura herself felt the pain, but doubled. It was as though both her body and soul were being attacked at once. Suddenly, Itachi removed Sakura from the pole and allowed her to stand independently. She couldn't move, even if she wanted to. _

_Itachi threw the kunai, all of which hit her vital areas. She fell back, landing the same way she had when Orochimaru showed her this. But Itachi's illusion, however, was different slightly. Orochimaru's was just an illusion, but this...Pain was included in the deal. _

_Sakura screamed out in the pain, gritted her teeth, bit her lip. _I'll get out of this, I'll get out of this..._She repeated over and over. _Itachi can't hold me forever. If he won't let me out, I'll fight my way out. _She forced herself to stand, pulled a kunai out of herself. Instead of Itachi, she turned around and released her Inner Self. _

**Damn it! **_Inner Sakura yelled as she broke through the bonds. She pulled out her own kunai and advanced. She and Sakura turned to Itachi, stepped forward. _**Get out of my head, or I'll keep you here! **_Inner Sakura yelled as she threw the kunai at Itachi. He dodged the easily, teleporting behind the original. He grabbed her arms, put his foot firmly on her back. _

_"Didn't Sasuke do this to someone?" Itachi taunted. "You can't beat me at my own game." With that, he pulled on Sakura's arms and pushed on her back. Sakura screamed out in the pain, looked over to her Inner Self. It wasn't there. "You have a duel personality," Itachi noted as he pressed down harder. "Interesting. But that can't get through my illusion - nothing can." With one final push, Sakura's wrists, elbows, and shoulders all popped out of their sockets. _

She had screamed out in the real world, too. It was blood-curtling, but it hurt so much...Itachi had actually done it in real life, hadn't he? Sakura twitched for a moment before she slid and fell of the branch.

She hit the ground, _hard. _She couldn't move her arms - they felt as though they had actually been dislocated. She couldn't move her legs - they were cramping. Itachi had to have actually _done _something to her. How long was she under that illusion, anyway? All she could do was think.

Her heart raced as she heard the footsteps of Itachi approaching. _Move! Move! _She shouted to her legs. She thought she felt the left one twitch a bit, but it was useless. As he approached, Sakura shouted to her arms and legs. _C'mon, move! We're gonna die! Move move move! C'mon, move! _Her arms move a fraction. _Good, good. That's it! Keep moving! _Her body began to follow her thoughts instructions again. Slowly, ever so slowly, she was able to get to her feet again. Her arms shook as a response to her will to move, but they hurt so much, they wouldn't move. Breathing heavilly, Sakura looked into Itachi's eyes. She smiled, focused her Chakra to her arms. They slowly began to heal. Her Chakra began visible in green groups on both arms as they continued their healing process. Itachi's eyes widened.

The two just stared for a long moment before Sakura's arms started moving more. She sneered, continued to stare at him. "Can't beat you at your own game? This isn't a game, Itachi. So what are you going to do?" Itachi made no notion to move. Slowly, ever so slowly, she walked back toward Deidara. The actual Itachi was where he originally was. He had used a Shadow Replication on her...

The original Itachi still had his eyes closed. Carefully, very carefully, Sakura contiuned to back away from the Shadow Replication. Deidara wasn't too far away now...Itachi opened his eyes. Under the glare of Itachi, she almost froze again. But she forced herself to continue backwards to Deidara.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Sakura broke into a run and ran behind Deidara. Her arms were healed enough now to move them. She wrapped them around Deidara's midsection and clung to him as though her life depended on it. She buried her face into his back and clamed her eyes shut.

"Sakura-chan?" Deidara whispered. "What are you doing, un?"

"You can protect me, can't you?"

Itachi broke between them. "Deidara, how to you know Haruno Sakura?"

"I don't. Never seen her before in my life, un."

"And your arms? _Both _are supposed to be in slings."

"I didn't feel like wearing them both!"

Itachi sneered. "You're a bad liar, Deidara. Always have been. You can't take a cast off a broken arm without someone's help - usually a medic nin. How do you know her?"

Deidara gulped, but stopped when Gaara appeared between the two teams. Each side waited for the other to say something, ans so there was complete silence for a while. Then, Gaara spoke. "If the girl is hurt, I will kill you."

"Says who?" Kisame roared.

Itachi silenced him. "Why is she here?" He remained calm.

"She's here because I brought her here to heal Deidara's arms."

"Is this true, Deidara?" Deidara looked into Itachi's eyes, nodded. "Why did you lie?" Deidara thought about it, shrugged. Itachi closed his eyes, shook his head. He proceeded to the entrance, followed by Kisame and Gaara. Deidara paitently waited for Sakura to calm her neves, then brought her inside as well, allowing her to cling to him.

* * *

The five of them sat at the meal table and talked it over. Sakura remained silent most of the time, and only spoke when spoken to. Deidara was firmly on her side, disuading any poor ideas Itachi threw up. Itachi didn't want her in the Akatsuki at all, even though if she did join she would never be able to do an actual mission. Deidara argued that they needed the ability to be healed after every mission. Itachi then asked her if she could heal the eyes. Sakura explained that eye healing was the only type she hadn't mastered yet. Kisame wanted to know how well she could fight. Itachi reminded him of the scene a few minutes earlier - if she _was _to become one with the Akatsuki, she would forever be a healer. Someone would still train her, yes, but there was no way she'd ever fight in an actual battle as an Akatsuki.

They finally agreed that they needed a healer. Next thing; who would train her? Itachi refused instantly, using the fact that he had to train Gaara. Kisame said if his partner wasn't going to, he wasn't, either. Gaara was out of the question - he was still learning. The only one left was Deidara, and he readily agreed to train her.

The final question: where would she sleep? Kisame's room was already maxed out, and Deidara and Gaara couldn't hold any one else, either. That left Itachi. There was an open bed in his room, and it didn't matter where she slept as long as she let him be. Itachi again refused and suggested she and Gaara switch places. Sakura weakly agreed to everything she was assigned to. That meant there was only one thing left to do.

Itachi handed her a kunai. Sakura untied the headband from around her head and stared at the Leaf Village symbol. Was she really going to abandon her people - Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee, Choji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba - for this? What was there here she couldn't have there?

_Deidara_Her Inner Self giggled. Sakura ignored the somment. Her mind made up, she sliced the kunai over the headband, replaced the protector at the top of her head. Deidara handed her the Akatsuki overcoat. There was no going back, no second chances. She almost wasn't an existing person anymore - she was now an S-class criminal in the BINGO book. What would Sasuke and Naruto think about this if they found out? But it didn't matter now. Now she had a new group of 'friends.' At least a familiar face, Gaara, would be seen now and again. This was it. She was now, truly, a member of the Akatsuki.

* * *

**A/n **

**So that's chapter 2. Glad I'm finally learning to write longer chapters . I changed the name from FADE TO BLACK to ASCENDING TO DARKNESS because I realized there was already a fic with the other name and I didn't wanna copy. And the big 'ol beginning part I wrote in chapter 1 (the A/n before the story) WAS NOT intended to be used simply for a higher word count, and neither is this A/n. I write these because i always do, makes me calm my nerves or something...Anyway, the next chapter is: ****Chapter 3: Uzumaki Naruto**** see you! **


	3. Chapter 3: Uzumaki Naruto

**Chapter 3: Uzumaki Naruto**

Naruto slurped up Ramen at his favorite Ramen shop slowly. He never usually ate it so slow, but he had much to think about. Sakura had gone missing a few days ago - a week after Gaara had. Temari and Gaara had decided to stay in Konoha whilst Kankuru returned home. But what was bothering him was the fact that both Gaara and Sakura had gone missing. He was more then positive they were connected, the kidnappings. Perhaps Gaara had gone of his own free will, then returned for Sakura? That made sense - she was last seen at around misnight. But what didn't add up was the fact that Gaara and Sakura had nothing to do with one another - they weren't connected at all. If Gaara had taken her, what were his motives for doing so? But then again, what if she had gone of her own free will? What if Gaara had simply been sent for her? There were so many different possibilities...

The ideas that ran through his mind made him shiver. Why would Sakura go with him? Wasn't she living a good life as a medic nin? She was always smiling and laughing - she loved her life. So why had she abandoned it? Had she been hiding something? Naruto wished he could ask her himself.

Naruto paid the bill for his Ramen and left. It didn't make any sense! Of all people, why would Sakura go with Gaara? The two had nothing in common.

_That you know of, _a sinister voice whispered through his thoughts. Naruto stopped dead. What if...? No, Sakura would never do that. But Gaara would. What if Gaara joined the Akatsuki? What if he took Sakura for some reason? But _why_? Was it because he needed her to heal him, or someone else, and she was then forced to stay with them? Maybe she had been forced into it.

Whatever the reason, the Akatsuki now had a strong healer - probably the strongest in Konoha, aside from Tsunade, her mentor. With this new 'tool' they'd be virtually unbeatable. How could you kill them when they'd be healed when they returned to their base? He had to get Sakura back.

But there was no going back. Everyone knew it - once you joined the Akatsuki, there was no going back. You were one of them until the day you died. There was no other option.

Naruto wanted to get her back. But even if she wanted to go back, she couldn't.

A thought ran through his mind. What if he, Uzumaki Naruto, joined the Akatsuki? No, that was crazy. What motives did he have to want to join them? Besides seeing Sakure, there was nothing. No reason to want to join.

_You've been an outcast all your life, _the voice reminded him. _Why not? They've been trying to get you to go for a year now. Why not give them what they want?_

Naruto realized the direction in which he was walking. He continued on, reguardless.

Nartuo stopped in front of the Uchiha Mansion, looked up at it. Sasuke was there; he saw lights on. Naruto was tempted to knowck on the door, but he knew Sasuke wouldn't let him in - he'd close the door behind himself. No one had ever seen the inside, save for the Uchiha's, and they were all dead.

Stepping closer to the house, Naruto became aware of an aura around it - an aura of murder, betrayal, hate. Everything Sasuke revolved around. Naruto did his best to ignore the feeling and knocked on the front foor. At first, there was no answer. After continuous knocking, Sasuke opened the door. "Naruto? What do you want?"

"I need to talk."

Just as he expected, Sasuke stepped out and closed the door behind him. "What do you want?" he repeated.

"I was thinking about Sakura's going missing, and Gaara's going missing, and I came up with something."

Sasuke motioned to the area behind Naruto. "Let's walk," he said. Naruto stepped back, allowed Sasuke to stand by his side. They set off, Sasuke leading.

Naruto spoke. "I was thinking. What if Gaara joined the Akatsuki?"

"And what if he did?"

"What if, for some reason, he needed a healer? What if Sakura healed him or whomever needed to be healed, and she was forced to stay with them from there? What if she's an Akatsuki now?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment, then, "What do you propose we do, if she was?"

Naruto shrugged. "I need you thoughts on this. I've no idea what to do."

Sasuke stopped, turned to face Naruto. "There's nothing we _can _do, Naruto. Sakura's fate is sealed, no matter what we do. I suggest you just forget about her and move on. Doing anything else will only lead to dissapointment and pain. You can't bring the dead back."

Sasuke turned his back and walked away. Frozen to the spot and unsure of what to do, Naruto yelled after him, "She's not dead, and you know it as much as I do! I'm going to get her back, Sasuke, dattebyo!" Naruto turned his back and ran, thinking things over. Sasuke had the same feelings for Sakura he had, so why was he acting so cold? Naruto looked to the ground, balled his fists as he ran. His thoughts were actually dragging his running down, and he slowly progressed to a stop. Naruto looked up, nearly in tears as rain began to fall. Sasuke was right, just as he had feared. There was no way to get someone back from the Akatsuki alive. The only way to see her again was to join the clan.

_People never acknowledged your existance. If you become an Akatsuki, they definately will, _the voice reminded him. It had a point there.

Naruto kicked at a puddle and watched as the water splashed up, then fell down again along with the rain. Night had fallen, and so the only place to go was home.

* * *

At his house, Naruto didn't bother turning the lights on or anything else. Instead, he fumbled to his bed and just collapsed onto it. Turning over to his backside, Naruto put his hands behind his head as an extra cushion and stared up at the ceiling. Sasuke's voice echoed through his thoughts. Sasuke's voice echoed through his thoughts. _Sakura's fate is sealed, no matter what we do. I suggest you just forget about her and move on. Doing anything else will only lead to dissapointment and pain. You can't bring the dead back. _But then, the other voice came to him. _People never acknowledge your existance, but it you join the Akatsuki, they definately will. _But was he really suited for it? Naruto didn't believe so, but he knew he'd be a powerful ally if he was to join. If he was to join, there was no way he'd ever be able to become Hokage. He'd have to make many sacrifices. Was Sakura really worth it?

Naruto shook that scornful question out of his thoughts. Of course Sakura was worth it. She always was, always had been. He would've done anything for her. Was this just another favor she was asking? Naruto pictured her in some sort of jailcell, being watched by another Akatsuki member, living on bread and water, being forced to use her Chakra to heal the other members. Where the Akatsuki really that vile, or was he just playing it off that way? Naruto hoped she was comfortable, but he also hoped she thought of he and Sasuke. That was all he asked.

With these thoughts in mind, Naruto quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up with a firm decision. Konoha could care less about the demon-orphan boy. No one cared about him at all. If he was to die right here, right now, no one would care.

But what about Hinata? She and he had grown closer, but he still didn't feel comfortable asking her out, and so he hadn't. Even if she loved him, he was leaving anyway. He was basically turning himself over to hell, but what choice did he have? He wanted people to know he existed, to finally see him, and this was the only way.

Sure of himself, Naruto collected a bit of food and money in his pockets and locked his house for the last time. He set off in search of a connector who would set everything up.

* * *

He had been instructed to meet the Akatsuki member by the outskirts of Konoha - by the spas. Midnight. Naruto waited paitently. The name was Deidara. He's be coming soon...

"Uzumaki Naruto?" A voice asked from behind. Naruto nodded, turned around.

Deidara was a girl? Naruto supposed so. She had long blonde hair, deep blue eyes (or at least, the one that was visible was. The other was covered with long bangs.) She wore a cone-shaped hat with white tassles all around. She was wearing the Akatsuki cloak, with the neckband up to her chin. Her head was bent to the ground, and so all that was visible was her nose. Deidara motioned for Naruto to follow and turned around. Naruto followed him, unnerved by the woman's mysteriousness.

For a long while, all was quiet until Naruto spoke. "Deidara-chan?"

"I'M A GUY!" Deidara shouted, loud enough to startle Naruto, but quiet enough to keep everyone else ignorant.

Naruto jumped a bit, then said, "Deidara-san. Right, sorry. So...Why'd you join?"

Deidara turned away, continued walking. Naruto followed after him. "I had no other choice," Deidara began. "Another member saw my talents and requested me to join. I refused.

"After several rejections, he killed everyone dear to me and made it look like I had committed the crime. I had become an outcast, and so I had no other choice, un."

"Who was this member?"

Deidara's face darkened. "Uchiha Itachi."

Naruto stopped at the name. He had forgotten Itachi would be there. Naruto forced himself to continue on and catch up with Deidara. "Deidara-san?" Deidara looked over a little. "Do you know, or have you hard of someone by the name of, Haruno Sakura?"

"I may have. Why, un?"

"She went mising a few days ago. I'm trying to find her."

"Then why are you here, with me, un?"

"I have reason to believe she joined - or was forced to join - the Akatsuki. She's a healer. Pink hair. Can't miss her."

"And how are you related to her, un?"

"She's my teammater. And...I love her."

Both of them fell silent for a long while, before Deidara answered, "She's at the base."

Naruto looked over to him, excitement rushing through him. "Really?" Deidara nodded. "What happened? Why'd she join?"

"Gaara took her to heal my arms."

"Looks like she did good."

Deidara nodded. "She's a good medic nin. I just wish I hadn't met her on such terms, un." They fell silent again. Naruto was half-tempted to turn back and run, now that he knew what he wanted to know. But he knew it would be useless - he'd be wanted by the Akatsuki. Deidara spoke. "You've got the Kyuubi, hmm?" Naruto nodded. "You'll be a strong ally. You've been deeply sought by Leader, you know. You and Gaara. He would've killed to have you two, and you both came willingly. He's very happy, un."

"How's Gaara doing?"

"Learning quickly. Master Itachi sealed the demon within him, and so he could not rely on the sand to constantly protect him. He's starting from scratch, but he's learning quickly, un."

"And Sakura? Who's training her?"

"I am. We share a room as well. I _was _sharing a room with Gaara, and Itachi would've been sharing his room with Sakura, but I don't think he likes her very much. He had her and Gaara switch places." Deidara shrugged. "I don't like Gaara very much, either, un."

"But he got someone to heal your arms for you!"

Deidara's face darkened again. "He's the one who almost destroyed my arms." Naruto looked up to Deidara, fell silent.

They continued on, perfectly silent, not even allowing their breathing to be heard. The two of them continued on silently for what seemed like three hours. Although it was night, the constant maneuvering was forcing a sweat on Naruto. He didn't say anything, though - Deidara's last comment had unsettled him again. After quite a while, Deidara said to him, "We're here." He stopped, turned to Naruto. "Are you sure you want to do this? You're abandoning everything you once knew. There's no going back to it - once and outcast, always an outcast, un." Naruto thought for a moment. Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Choji, Temari, hell, even Lee..He was leaving them all. They were waving goodbye, telling him they couldn't wait to see them again, and he was returning the wave with his middle finger and laughing at their shocked faces.

Naruto took another moment to memorize all their faces, mentally applogized. Naruto looked up to Deidara, nodded.

Deidara nodded as well. "Very well." They continued walking, until they got to a cave that dug into the ground. Deidara continued straight as though it was nothing. Puzzled, Naruto followed after him.

It was an illusion. The cave didn't go down as it appeared - it went straight through as Deidara walked.

They came to a blockade. Boulders had fallen over one another, making it impossible to continue any further. Deidara walked up to the boulders, laid his hand on them cooly. The boulders rolled and moved, so that an opening was exposed. They walked through.

As they continued through the entrance, the boulders moved back into place, completely sealing off the entrance. Deidara led him to another room, where all was black. It looked like some sort of stadium. Naruto followed Deidara through the stadium blankly, amazed by the vastness for some reason.

Deidara stopped suddenly. Naruto rammed into his back. "What are you...?" He stopped when Deidara turned around and told him to stay. Naruto nodded and watched Deidara as he walked away.

Naruto waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"What the hell?!" He shouted to the darkness. There was no reply. Only the stillness of the stadium answered.

For a second there was nothing, but then there was kunai being thrown from every direction. Naruto flinched as one cut into his theigh, jumped out of the way of the others. Some hit him, and others he was able to deflect.

After a while, the kunai that _were _embedded into him sizzled and burned in his skin. Naruto flinched. Had they all been dabbed in poison? No - he'd be dead by now. So what was it? The only thing he could think of was an illusion. But that meant his attacker was...

Uchiha Itachi stepped into Naruto's range of vision. _Damn it, _he thought to himself, stepping back as Itachi advanced. _What to do? _He raced his mind for an answer, but found none. Sighing, Naruto formed the seal for Chakra and awaited Itachi's next attack.

The kunai inside him burned like hell. Deeply frowning, Naruto closed his eyes and concentraited. It was an illusion. Only an illusion. Nothing more.

But the kunai _burned. _It was as though they were made of acid. Naruto bit his lip in attempt to push the pain away. It was a battle just to ignore it.

"That's not an illusion," Itachi whispered, suddenly close to his ear. Naruto's eyes shot open, and all he could see were the red, swirling eyes of the Uchiha. Naruto jumped back, only to hit another Itachi. He screamed and stabbed a kunai into what he now knew to be a Shadow Replication. Naruto turned back to the real Itachi, who was calmly waiting for Naruto's attack.

Instead, Naruto used _his _Shadow Replication and called up thousands of Narutos, which filled the stadium. Itachi was outnumbered, one thousand to one. All the Narutos smirked, closed in.

Itachi jumped and used the Breathing Fire Phoenix Technique. Odd, Naruto hadn't seen him cast the jutsu at all...Itachi blew the fire down on all the Naruto copies until just one was left. Itachi made a copy of his own, which jumped off somewhere. Naruto focused on the real one. He called up Rasengan, plowed into Itachi while they were still in the air. He fell down to the ground with Itachi, who smiled and dissapeared just before they hit the ground. Naruto growled. He had attacked the feint Itachi!

Naruto landed on his feet, looked around intently. Where was he? He had so much black to him, Naruto couldn't distinguish him through the darkness. He was running out of options - the Uchiha already knew his skills and strengths, and so he had to come up with something new. Or, at least, something he hadn't seen before.

Naruto stopped dead, went perfectly limp. He called up all the bad memories he had ever experianced, especially those with Sasuke in them. He remembered Itachi almost killing Sasuke, and doing that thing with his Sharingan. Anger welled within Naruto - enough to awaken the Kyuubi. Instead of Itachi, Naruto pretended he was fighting Sasuke. This furthered the anger, and Naruto could feel the seals breaking. He thought of when Haku almost killed Sasuke, and the abandonment he felt when the only other person in the world like him had almost been killed...His eyes went red and slanted, and his nails grew sharp. They Kyuubi's Chakra swirled all around him. Naruto fell to the ground, landing like an animal. He ran toward where he had last seen Itachi, and, much to his surprise, hit something. But it dissapeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto turned around and ran for Itachi again. You could almost see the Kyuubi running alongside him.

Naruto came up to the real Itachi, slammed into him with all his force. With a thud, Itachi was slammed against a wall. Naruto took a kunai out of his pocket, made to stab Itachi. The kunai went in, sputtering blood onto his face. Naruto smirked in victory, dug the kunai in deeper.

But at that mark, Itachi's body slowly broke and turned into crows. Angrily, Naruto returned to his animal stance and ran around in an attempt to find Itachi again. But, unexpectedly, he fell limp, unable to move. What was this? What happened? Itachi came into view and looked down at him. "You should've removed the kunai - they weren't an illusion. They were dipped in poison - their tips. Just enough to paralyze, not kill. But you've fought well - I've seen all of your best moves anyway." Itachi bent down and picked Naruto up. "Deidara," he called, and Deidara appeared behind him. "Get him to medic - the poison travels fast." He handed Naruto off to Deidara.

Deidara walked away with Naruto and said to him, "You're a powerful fighter. Kyuubi, hmm?"

Naruto managed a nod and said through clamped teeth, "You have mouths on your hands."

"So?"

"They're licking me."

"They do that."

"Without you?"

"Without me," Deidara confirmed.

"What are they for?"

"I can make clay birds for either transportation or weaponry. They explode." He smiled proudly.

They made their way what Naruto thought was the medical room. But in reality, it looked to be more like a bedroom. There was two beds; one on the left and one on the right. There was no body on the right, but on the left...

"Sakura!" Naruto said as loudly as he could.

She had her back to them, just sitting on her bed. She turned around at the sound of her name, stood. She walked over to the two of them. "_This _is the guy you were assigned to get?" She asked Deidara. He nodded. "Paralyzed?" Again, he nodded. "Alright. Set him on my bed." Deidara did as instructed, carefully placing Naruto on the bed so Sakura could get to his vital points. "What's your name?" She asked him. The face looked like Naruto, but she doubted it was him. Although he was loyal, Naruto wouldn't throw away his last hopes at being Hokage for her.

The boy's face fell. "Sakura...don't you remember me? You haven't been gone _that _long."

Instantly, she knew who it was. Her face melted. "N-naruto?"

"Yeah! It's me, Sakura-chan!"

"Baka!" She yelled, punching his shoulder. "What were you thinking, coming after me? Why'd you join?"

"You," he said softly.

Sakura hit him again. "Wrong answer!"

"Um, Sakura?" Deidara broke in. She turned to him. "Naruto just got his ass kicked," Naruto objected at this, but Deidara ignored it and continued, "and there's poison running through his system, un."

Sakura nodded, turned to Naruto. "Kunai?" Deidara handed her one. She took it, rolled Naruto's sleeve up, and cut it deep into his arm. "Poison Bending jutsu," she whispered as she completed the seal. She then held her hand close to the cut, moved it back slowly and in a curved path. A clear liquid slowly seeped out of the wound, followed Sakura's hand. When all of the poison was out completely, she twirled it around herself and through the air. When satisfied - when the poison was sparkling - she clenched her hand shut. The water burst and cascaded down all around her in sparkles.

Naruto stared at Sakura as the sparkles fell around her. Sparkling Cherry Blossom...That was his new name for her, he decided. Naruto looked away quickly when she turned to him. He felt Sakura's hands on him, healing the cuts from the kunai thrown at him. Soon after she had removed the poison, he soon began to feel his arms, his legs. The little tingly sensation ran through him, and he forced himself to roll onto his back. "Thank you, Sakura-chan." Sakura nodded, helped him to his feet. He was a little weak at first, but was quickly able to regain control.

The two of them stared into one another's eyes for a long moment, until Sakura gave in and hugged him as tight as she could. "Oh, Naruto..." she whispered. "Naruto...Why did you join? Why did you just give everything up like that?"

"I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing you again."

At this point, Deidara turned to leave. Sakura turned around, beginning, "Dei - ?" But he was gone before she could even mutter his name. She stared back at where he had been for a moment, then turned back to Naruto. "Everyone of the Akatsuki are back from their missions. They want you, Naruto. They want you to join real bad."

"And you?"

"They're stronger then ever with me. I can heal them whenever they need healing."

Naruto looked to the ground. "I'm sorry about Deidara."

"What?"

Naruto shook his head. "Never mind. I'm still delirious." Sakura looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"Come on," She said to him. "I have to show you to everyone else - get you set up and everything. Follow me." She walked. He followed.

* * *

Sakura brought Naruto to the Dining table where all the Akatsuki were sitting. Sakura sat down between Deidara and a blue guy, and Naruto found a spot directly in front of her between Itachi and Gaara. Naruto studied Gaara for a moment, but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to Sakura. She looked up to him, asked, "Did you consider letting anyone else know?"

"I confronted Sasuke about my suspiciounds the night before." Mentioning Sasuke brought up an intense aura from Itachi. Naruto ignored it.

"What'd he say?" Sakura asked him. Naruto looked down to his hands, twidled his thumbs. He remained silent. "Naruto, what'd Sasuke say about my beind here?"

"You wouldn't want to know."

"Naruto, what'd he say?" Sakura yelled as she slammed her fists down on the table and stood.

Naruto sighed, finally answered, " 'There's nothing we _can _do, Naruto. Sakura's fate is sealed, no matter what we do. I suggest you just forget about her and move on. Doing anything else will only lead to dissapointment and pain. You can't bring the dead back.' " Naruto looked up to her, a sad expression on his face.

Sakura stood, frozen where she was. Without blinking, Sakura fell back into her seat. She was completely still for a moment, but then, "He said that?" Naruto nodded. Sakura stood, left the table.

"Sakura-chan? Where are you going?" Naruto called after her.

"My room," she answered. "I have a headache." She left.

Naruto watched her leave, then looked over to Deidara. He was looking down at his hands, perfectly silent. "Deidara," Naruto began. Deidara looked up. "Go to her." Deidara nodded and left.

All was silent for a moment, then, "Did you see her hands?" That was Itachi.

"Huh?" Naruto asked as he looked over to him.

"Sakura's hands. Did you see them?"

"What about them?"

"They were flaming with Chakra."

"How's that possible?"

"When you get excited and you start losing control of your emotion, your Chakra flows through you on it's own accord to the spots you use it most. She's a healer, so naturally the Chakra went to her hands. But you, you first break the seal holding the Kyuubi in. You're inner, own, Chakra goes there and slowly begins to gnaw at it. Eventually the seal breaks, or begins to, and the Kyuubi's Chakra gushes out and swirls all around you - you use every aspect of your body when fighting. So much Chakra combined will become visible."

Naruto nodded, then changed the subject. "Where am I sleeping?"

Itachi shrugged. "Go find a room."

"But I - "

Itachi stopped him with a motion of his hand that said 'Go away'. "Go away," he began, "You're a bother."

Naruto stood. Before he left, he said to Itachi, "You know, you and Sasuke have a lot in common." He left before Itachi could say anything.

* * *

Naruto walked around the labrynth that was the Akatsuki base. _Go find a room. _How was he supposed to do that? The place was so big...

Without realizing it, Naruto slammed into Gaara. "Gaara!" He shouted. "Boy am I glad to see you!" Gaara remained silent. Naruto continued, "Can you help me find a room to stay in? I'm lost." Gaara rolled his eyes, turned around. Naruto decided to follow him.

They walked for a while before Gaara turned to a door, peered inside. "Sasori," he caled to whomever was inside. "Mind sharing your room?" Gaara turned to Naruto, motioned for him to enter. Naruto did, and Gaara departed.

He tried not to stare at the creature who was sitting on the left-hand bed. He went to the right bed and laid down. He shut his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**A/n**

**Wow, the wonders of an overactive imagination. This is got to be the longest chapter I've ever written for any story...Chapter 4: Deidara. **


	4. Chapter 4: Deidara

**Chapter 4: Deidara**

He took Naruto's advice and followed after Sakura into their room. He found her there in their room, curled up on her bed, facing the wall. Deidara closed the door behind himself and gently sat down beside her on the bed. She didn't respond.

Deidara laid down beside her, wraped his arms around her. He didn't say anything - words would only hurt more. He held her close to him, like a father would a daughter. He ran his fingers through her hair, twirling it around his fingers. She smelled of Cherry Blossoms, just like her name. "Sparkling Cherry Blossom," he whispered. Her hair was soft and shiny. He continued to toy with it, completely mesmerized by the feeling.

Sakura turned over to face Deidara, smiling through her drying tears. Her eyes were a puffy red and her nose was the same and running, but she acted as though nothing was wrong. Her smile deepened as he blushed, and she took a lock of his bangs and ran it through her fingers. She smiled warmly. "DeiDei," she whispered as she cudled up beside him. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Both had their eyes closed, just laying there in one another's arms. For Deidara, it was a sentiment he hardly remembered. It was coming to him completely out of instinct. Keeping his eyes closed, he just laid there with her, not caring about anything else in the least.

"DeiDei?" Sakura called him. Such a cute name he had been given...

"Hmm?"

"What are you planning on teaching me during training?"

"What do you want to learn, un?"

She quiet for a moment. He opened his eyes and watched her, loving the emerald green eyes. "Do you have a stadium here?"

Deidara nodded. "Yeah, but it's small and I don't have much supplies."

Sakura nodded. "Tomorrow, lets go outside. We don't have to dress up if we stay in the area, right? I don't want to be cooped up here all day everyday."

Deidara was almost completely lost in those emerald eyes. He was slipping, falling into them. "I think I know what I'm going to teach you, un."

Sakura grew a happily curious look on her face. "What are you thinking?"

"Do you want to begin now, un?" He asked her, sitting up.

"Oh really? Yes! She hopped up off her side. "Teach me, Deidara-kun!"

..._kun?_ Deidara thought with a blush. He sat upright on the bed. "Alright then."

"Well c'mon then!" Sakura took one of Deidara's arms, pulled at it. "C'mon, let's go!" He was forced by her pull to stand, and so she did. Sakura clung to his arm as though her life depended on it and she wanted only him to save her. Happy to have someone so eager for art, Deidara brought her through the Akatsuki base, neither of them concerned about those who passed them. They were silent most of the time, but that was what Deidara liked about Sakura. He liked not knowing what she was thinking...Girls that wouldn't shut up were just annoying. Deidara opened the door to his studio, motioned for Sakura to enter. She thanked him and did so. She took one look and gasped. "Deidara-kun! _Little? _This room is anything _but _little!"

Deidara stood beside her proudly. The room was made of the mountain, but he had used explosive spiders to smooth it all out. He had the wall polished and cleaned, and the walls constantly sparkled. He then added drawers and cabinets from the walls, and dg out a heating room for clay. He carved _down _into the mountain, creating tables and chairs. The tables were stationary, still connected to the floor, whereas the chairs had been removed completely and were able to be moved around freely. He added the spinners for the clay that were pedal powered and allowed him to spin the clay whilst designing. Everything he carved exploded, however, and usually before he would add detail with the spinner. But he kept trying. Someday he would figure out how to make art without it exploding.

He was proud of the studio he had made. It took him a while to complete - being alone and constantly leaving with Sasori on missions - and so he had never been able to use it yet. In all honesty, he had finished the studio a few days before Gaara showed up.

"It does a justice, un." He said to her with a smile.

Sakura looked over to him, an astonished look on her face. "Dei...did you construct this?" Deidara nodded, eying the room proudly. He had only been praised as a child for something he had done, and that was so long ago he did not remember the good feeling that followed. "Wow," Sakura breathed as she turned back to the room. "That's amazing." The praize was even better coming from Sakura.

"C'mon," he started. "let's go make something." He closed the door behind her, motioned for her to follow. She did.

Deidara walked her around the room, giving her all the time she needed to see everything she wanted to see. She walked beside him, treating everything as though it was made of gold. She carefully opened the drawers and cabinents, not touching anything. Deidara left her, sat at one of the tables, and patiently waited for her to conclude her inspection.

Sakura turned to him. "I wanna draw."

Deidara nodded. "You know where everything is, un. I'll be using the clay." He got up and collected some clay from a bin nearby, and worked his magic.

He watched Sakura out of the corner of his eye as she collected some paper and a regular pencil. He wondered vageuly what she could be drawing, but turned his attention back to his carving.

* * *

After about an hour, Sakura put her pencil down and shouted, "Done!" Deidara looked over to her to see a picture of himself sitting on some sort of floor - there was no background - head slightly bent, looking into view with his eyes, legs in a loose pretzel position, arms down between them, seemingly holding him up. He was was wearing his Akatsuki cloak, and looked embarrassed.

Deidara smiled. "You're good."

"Arigato. What is it you're trying to do?"

"I'm _trying _to make something that won't explode." He grunted as another creation exploded, let his head fall limp. "It's useless," he said with a sigh. "I've never been able to make something out of clay that didn't explode, un."

"Have you ever thought of wearing gloves?"

Deidara looked up. "Gloves?"

She handed him hers. "They have holes at the fingertips so you can still work, but the rest of the body is enclosed so _you're _controlling the clay."

He took the gloves, forced them on (they were incredibly tight.) He tried re-carving the bird he was originally making. He slowly went through the steps again, carefully repeating each step exactly as he had before. He had always wanted to make something that didn't explode...Maybe this would be it. His heart raced with excitement.

Deidara finished and sat back, waiting. A minute passed.

Two...

Three...

BOOM! The bird exploded with a loud noise. Deidara and Sakura fell back, hitting the wall the door was on. "Damn!" Deidara shouted, throwing his hands down. He sighed. "I suppose my art will never remain art."

"Dei, art isn't meant to stay." Deidara looked over to Sakura, studied her. She continued, "Art is meant to fly away whenever it chooses. It's meant to be as free-willing and spirited as the creator." She paused, then poked where his heart should've been and told him, "Besides, your best art is what goes on _here_, your heart. Drawing and carving and sculpting isn't about what the artist _sees, _it's about what the artist _believes_."

Deidara studied her for a moment, then looked down to his still-gloved hands. "You mean, I shouldn't be angered at my art because it doesn't work the way most art does," --here he removed the gloves- "and just love it for the way it is?" Sakura nodded.

At that moment, the door opened, and Sasori appeared behind it. "Deidara," he said simply.

Deidara nodded, turned to Sakura. "Looks like I'm leaving, un." He gently placed the gloves in her hands, held both.

"How long?"

"Probably a few days, a week at most."

Sakura glanced back to Deidara. Sasori was gone. She turned back to Deidara, grabbed his face, kissed him. She closed her eyes, he kept his open. Was this really happening? Sakura was kissing him, right?

Deidara returned it, let her up for air. "Come back," she whispered as she rested her forehead on his. "Don't forget. Come back."

Deidara nodded. "I won't forget."

* * *

**A/n**

**Shorter chapter, but I liked how it turned out. DeiSaku, hmm? Opinions? There's gonna be a scene in the next few chapters, and the rating will probably increase...Next chapter: Forever and Forever More.**


	5. Chapter 5: Forever and Forever More

**Chapter 5: Forever and Forever More**

They didn't know. They weren't expecting it.

Those fools.

For Akatsuki, the members were pretty foolish. He wondered how long it would take them before they realized he was there on mission orders. Or, he had put himself on orders when he heard where they were headed. Deidara and Sasori were sent to go to the Sand Village. They were going to the Sand Village. He wasn't going to let them. Not like he loved the village, but he wasn't about to let them destroy his homeland.

He had, originally, joined the Akatsuki genuinely. He wasn't expecting to double-cross them, but when he found this out, he knew he had to protect the village. He was created to do so.

And so, the night they left, he followed them. They were going to regret attacking his village. They were both going to die.

It took them quite a while to get to the Hidden Village of Sand on foot. Sasori was in his protective shell, which was cumbersome to move. But Deidara loved his partner. He obsessed over the puppeteer. Called him 'Master' and everything. Frankly, it was sickening.

Deidara agreed with Sasori that he would go alone and attack the city from above. He waited until nighttime. That gave Gaara the opportunity he needed. Removing his headband (he had left the Akatsuki cloak at the base) he looked as though he had never left. Gaara slowly walked inside the village and awaited nightfall.

* * *

It came slowly, forcing Gaara to run into people he didn't want to see again. He was wishing he'd see Temari over anyone - she could keep a secret. But no. Sadly, he ran into Kankuru first. Gaara had been sitting at a table in a random restaurant he had picked, looking over everyone else there as he ate. Then, someone stopped beside him and whispered, "Gaara?" He didn't bother looking up. He knew the voice well enough to know who it was. Kankuru sat down across from him. "What are you doing here?"

Gaara answered with another question. "Where's Temari?"

"At the Leaf Village with Shikamaru. She's very fond of him. Last I heard, they were thinking about getting married."

Gaara nodded. "And you?"

Kankuru shrugged. "Nothing special. Where have you been?"

"Busy." Gaara answered in that simple tone that annoyed people.

"Out of the village?" Gaara remained silent. Kankuru sat back in his chair. They both knew Gaara was too smart for that.

There was silence for a great while, before Gaara stood and said, "Give Temari my condolences." With that, Gaara left Kankuru, forever and forever more.

* * *

Night came faster after that. He waited by the Kazekage's - _his_ - temple, following suspicion. He had left the Sand Village, abandoning his title as Kazekage, when he joined the Akatsuki. But it didn't matter. This village was just another thing of his past he wished he hadn't experienced. And to him, although he had been elected Kazekage, he was just another relic they couldn't stand to think about. They had made him Kazekage to make him happy - so he didn't destroy the village. That was what they were thinking when they chose him.

A few hours after night fell - perhaps midnight - Gaara spotted something large flying overhead. It was far too large to be a bird, and normal people couldn't fly.

Deidara had come.

Gaara waited in the darkness for Deidara to land. A few minutes after his arrival, Deidara landed in front of Gaara, whispering, "Infiltration successful."

Gaara stepped out of the shadows, arms crossed. "That's as far as you go." He said to Deidara.

Deidara looked up, smirked. "Gaara. How did I know you'd be the one to betray us, un?"

Gaara remained calm. "I'm not betraying anyone. But I'm not going to allow you to destroy my village."

Deidara stood, laughed. "It's almost as if you _care _about its inhabitants!"

"If you try and continue your mission, I will kill you." Gaara stated it simply, as though there was nothing wrong with it.

"And who are you to tamper with Akatsuki business, un?"

"Who are the Akatsuki to tamper with the Sand Village? What do you have against them? What exactly are you doing here?"

"All Akatsuki business is strictly confidential. Why do you bother protecting this place, anyway?"

"This place may not have wanted me, but I needed it. Look around. What do you see? Sand, of course. This place is nothing but sand, and I am nothing but sand. I _need _this place. Without it, there will be no me. We coexist together, and it will always be that way. Forever and forever more."

Deidara clenched his fists, looked to the ground. "I know how you feel about your village, un. I felt the same way with mine, until _he _forced me away." Gaara waited. Deidara continued, "I didn't originally join the Akatsuki willingly, you know. I used to be and innocent civillan of the Stone Village, who used his power to break people out of jailcells. That's how _they _found out about my existence.

"The Akatsuki leader assigned him to the job of fetching me. At first, he just approached me. But after several refusals, he took action. He killed everyone I knew, and made it look like I was to blame. Outcasted and alone, I had no where else to go. So here I am, un." Still clenching his fists, Deidara looked up. "Now we're even."

"What task were assigned?"

Deidara smirked. "_You_." He backflipped off the ledge and flew away on that clay bird of his. Gaara followed him to the ledge and looked around. He saw the large bird fly off in the distance, and followed.

* * *

Deidara went back to the cave where Sasori had been left. Gaara waited by the entrance, where he could not be seen.

"Did you complete the mission?" There was no answer. Gaara assumed he nodded or shook his head. "You failed?!" Sasori yelled. "How could you fail such an easy task? We had everything planned and...what? Got in the way? Interesting. So everything failed? Fine. _You're _the one who's going to tell Leader. Let's go." Gaara departed as well, began his trip back to the Akatsuki base.

On his way, he thought things out. Why was he unable to hear Deidara's voice? Had both Deidara and Sasori known he was following him the whole time? Or, most horrible of all, had the whole thing been planned out from the beginning? What if that _was _their mission? To test the reliability of him? He thought he was a step ahead, but what if he had been a step behind the entire time?

He vaguely wondered what would happen to him when he got back. How did the Akatsuki treat betrayal? But, he could plead that hadn't betrayed anyone - he just wanted to see an actual mission. But Itachi would see right through that play. Most everyone else probably would, too. By now, they knew him well enough to know he wouldn't normally care. The only thing to do was to take the heat head-on. There was no other way.

But he _could _kill them...No, that would only cause further trouble.

Gaara got back to the base before Deidara and Sasori. He snuck inside, careful not to make a sound. He heard the drag of Sasori's shell and the light footsteps of Deidara. He quickly made his way to his and Itachi's room.

"Where have you been, Gaara?" The emotionless tone of Itachi asked him. He had his back to him, just staring at the all. "You're late. You've been gone all night. Why?"

"Why do you care?" Gaara responded as he dropped the gourd on his bed, put the Akatsuki overcoat on. "What happened to Itachi the careless murderer?"

"I'm asking the questions. What were you doing following Deidara and Sasori? You took your cloak off - you went back to somewhere you used to reside. Hidden Village of Sand, maybe?" Gaara's eyes widened. Itachi waited.

"Why should I have to answer to you?" Gaara responded.

Itachi had Gaara pinned against the left flank of the doorway faster then he could blink. Much to his surprise, Itachi didn't have an angry look to his eyes. He was _smiling. _Itachi put his face directly beside Gaara's ear and whispered, "Mother's not happy. All she did for you, and no blood? She wants _blood_, Gaara, and so do you." Gaara's head pounded within his skull. He winced, cried out. He started breathing deeply. He could hear the whirring in his head again..."Did you go to kill? If you don't answer, you will relive the day Yashamaru died."

Gaara's eyes widened. _How does he know about that? Name and all? But how...? _

The name brought pain. So much pain...Gaara screamed out again. She was screaming louder in his head. "No!" He yelled. "I followed Deidara and Sasori because I heard they were going to the Sand Village." His voice was small and raspy. He was having a hard time breathing.

"Were you going to stop them?" Gaara nodded. Itachi's eyes changed - the pupils sort of molded together into a pointed sphere. He was caught in the eyes - he couldn't look away.

_The colors...There was only red, black, and white. The sky above? An endless red with flowing black clouds that unnerved Gaara. The land below? An endless black, which gave Gaara the feeling he was falling...Falling forever and forever more..._

_All was quiet for a long moment before he realized Itachi was standing beside him. "Remember that moment when you killed the only person you've ever loved, for the next fourty-eight hours." With that, Itachi fadded away. In his place was Gaara as a Chibi, who had killed Yashamaru, the only person he had ever loved._

Gaara screamed out in both the real world and Itachi's world. Itachi let him go, let him slump to the floor. He left in search of Sakura. Gaara would suffer from mental damage, and would soon need the attention of a medic nin.

* * *

**A/n**

**I know, I know. That chapter was kinda confusing, right? Well, I'm trying to coordinate the story along with the shipuuden plotline. It won't be following the **_**entire **_**timeline, but enough to know where you are. Deidara and Sasori had gone to the Sand Village (through Leader (Pein)) because they knew Gaara would follow them, and they wanted to see what he used to be, why he left the Sand Village, et cetera. Also, Itachi knew about Gaara's past because of the seal he used when Gaara had almost lost control whilst fighting Deidara. The seal relayed memories from Gaara to Itachi, in exchange for sealing away Shakuku (sp?). And Itachi didn't die because it was a weakish seal (not like Naruto's, where his father (the fourth) died), and didn't seal the demon **_**entirely. **_**That's why the sand won't protect him constantly anymore, but the demon still threatens him. **

**Got all that? Yeah, that hurts my head, but there you go...Chapter 6: Reminiscent**


	6. Chapter 6: Reminiscent

**Chapter 6: Reminiscent**

He found her in her and Deidara's room. Deidara was there, but they weren't talking. Deidara was sitting on his bed, facing Sakura. She was on her bed, facing him. Nothing was being said when Itachi had walked in. "Sakura," he said as he opened the door. She looked up to him. "Gaara needs medical attention." She nodded, left. Itachi walked in, sat on her bed. Deidara didn't look up from his hands. "Deidara?" Itachi asked as he sat on the bed Sakura had been sitting on.

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong with you?"

Deidara just shook his head. "Just thinking, un."

"What is there for you to think about?"

Deidara's answer surprised him. "Home." All was silent before Deidara said, "Do you ever think of home, Master Itachi? I wouldn't expect you to, un, after killing them all..."

Itachi chose his words carefully. He always did. "Of course I do." Deidara looked up at this. "I always think about my younger brother, Sasuke. He'll never be able to surpass me, but he's strong."

"You let him live?" Deidara asked, astonished.

"He wasn't worth killing. Always running away. Never facing me. He did once, but failed miserably. He'll never be worth my time."

Deidara looked down to his hands again. "Do you really hate Sakura, un?"

Itachi closed his eyes, looked down. "She's weak. Hardly worth even _your _time, Deidara."

He could feel the anger fuming off Deidara. He opened his eyes and Deidara shouted, "Why do you always do that? You always down cast people! You know who can beat you? Naruto. That's why you didn't fight him directly as you normally would. You felt the Kyuubi's Chakra as did everyone else there, un." Deidara stood. "You're as bad as your brother. You ran from that challenge, and clung to life in an unsightly way. You did exactly what you hate, un."

Deidara began to walk away. "Deidara," Itachi began, and Deidara paused at the door. "A good ninja is one that knows when to run." Deidara clenched his fists and left Itachi, closing the door behind him.

Itachi sat there, eyes closed. Deidara was right, in a sense. He _had _run from the Kyuubi's Chakra, but it was because he could sense the anger radiating from the creature. He knew when to run and when to stand his ground. If he hadn't stayed in seclusion, he would've been killed. Anger clouds the mind.

And Sasuke...Why had he brought that up? He hadn't seen Sasuke in...two years. That wasn't a very long time. But why had he even said the name? He had no interest in Sasuke - he never had. So what had brought his aniki to mind?

_It was Sakura, _he suddenly realized. _She was on Sasuke's team. And Naruto as well. Things happen in threes. Will Sasuke be next to join? _Itachi opened his eyes and stood. He had to locate Naruto and Sakura.

* * *

He retrieved Sakura from his and Gaara's room, asked if she knew where Naruto was. She replied she wasn't sure, but guessed he would be in his room. The two of them set out to find him.

As Sakura had expected, Naruto was in his room, asleep on his bed. Sakura went over to him and smacked him, shouting his name.

"Ow! Sakura-chan! Why are you hitting me?" He sat up, rubbed his eyes. "And why so early?"

"Baka!" Sakura shouted, hitting him again. "It's noon!"

Naruto took the hits and rubbed his now-swollen head. "What's up, then?"

"I wanted to talk to the both of you," Itachi interjected.

Naruto and Sakura both looked over to him. "Oh, Itachi-san! Didn't notice you there!" Naruto said as he rubbed his head and smiled.

Sakura made to hit him again, but Itachi stopped her. "Control yourself, Sakura." She instantly backed off, put her hands to her side. Itachi stepped into the room, closed the door, and continued, "I wanted to talk to the two of you about Sasuke."

Naruto crossed his arms. "What's so important about Sasuke?"

"I want to know what you two think about him. You _were _his teammates, weren't you?"

Naruto and Sakura nodded. "What do you want to know?" Naruto asked him.

Itachi smiled. "What are his strengths? His weaknesses?"

"He uses the Phoenix Fire Technique alot," Naruto answered.

"Yeah, and he loves throwing shruiken and kunai at his enemies." Sakura added.

"But he's not very good at hand-to-hand - he always uses some sort of technique." Naruto contradicted her.

"His Chidori is perfect, though. And his greatest weakness is..."

"You." They both said in unison.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "When we first met out teacher, he had to tell a bit about ourselves and Sauske said...he said...uh..."

"'There are few things I like, and many things I dislike. I hate to use the word 'dream' but my soul ambition is to revive my clan and to kill a certain man.'" Sakura finished for Naruto.

"Revive the clan?" Itachi repeated.

"He's not using me!" Sakura shouted.

_I never thought Sasuke would think about reviving the clan, _Itachi thought to himself. _To kill me, of course, but he wants to revive the clan? He wants another family..._

Someone knocked on the door, entered. "Naruto," It was Deidara. Itachi didn't bother looking up. "You've got a mission to do, un. Get dressed and come see me." Deidara closed the door.

Naruto excitedly tore his pajamas off and threw his clothes on, followed by the Akatsuki cloak. "See you!" He shouted hapilly as he slammed the door behind himself.

All was silent. Itachi could feel Sakura's emerald eyes on him, but he ignored it, closed his eyes. "Itachi-kun?" Sakura broke the silence. Itachi didn't answer. "Do you really think Sasuke would join?"

"You and Naruto both know him better then I do. You tell me."

"He'd do it to kill you." Itachi nodded. "He'd sacrifice his own life to kill you. You're what's kept him alive and fightning all these years. If you hadn't destroyed the clan, Sasuke would've given up long ago. His only purpose to live is you." Sakura fell silent. _The only reason he went with Orochimaru was to learn more, become stronger. _Itachi thought to himself. _Then he came back, and almost killed Naruto, his best friend. He still lacks the inner-lying hatred I had, but we both grew up differently. I tried to instill enough hatred within Sasuke to become as strong as myself, but love got in the way. _Itachi looked up to Sakura. _Love for his teammates. Destroying the clan was supposed to strengthen both of us, but it made Sasuke weaker. It gave him the will to live and become stronger, yes, but it also left a terrible weakness in him. The need of another family. He found refuge in Sakura and Naruto, and became weaker. He'll never hate enough to kill Naruto or myself. Even when I force him to realize that, he doesn't become much stronger. Maybe joining the Akatsuki will do some good for him..._

"Are you afraid of Sasuke?" Sakura broke his train of thought.

"He's weak." Itachi answered simply.

"Do you regret killing your clan?"

"It made me stronger."

"That's the only reason you killed them all?" She was giving off a nervous aura. He was, slowly, unnerving her.

"Of course not," Itachi answered simpler still. "I have my reasons."

Silence fell over them. After a while, Sakura said to him, "I have to go and tend to Gaara." She left him.

_If he _does _come, _Itachi thought to himself, _it'll be to increase his strength. If he comes, maybe I should consider training him..._

Itachi sat there for the next few hours, debating. He always had much to think about. Only now, if he chose wrong, the whole plan of the Akatsuki would fall apart.

* * *

**A/n**

**--sob-- I feel like crying. My chapters are getting shorter again --goes and improves writing-- Chapter 7: Change of Heart. **


	7. Chapter 7: Change of Heart

**Chapter 7: Change of Heart**

Why not? He had been thinking about their departure for a while now - that was all he had been thinking. For the past two days, he was lost in the world of his own mind, lost within his thoughts. He worked mechanically, doing what he had to do without quite realizing what he was doing. He had been thinking about their leaving for the past two days. He had been thinking about just them themselves. He missed his teammates. He had always told them he would protect them...That he would never let them down. But then he left with Orochimaru, completely abandoning them. When he came back, they were happy, but he could tell there was a thought his two teammates shared he wasn't let in on. And then, a few months later, they left.

Sasuke sighed as he realized what he was eating. Ramen. Sasuke stared down at the pre-made soup, loosing himself again. For an instant, he could've sworn Naruto's face stared back at him through the contents of the soup. But as soon as Naruto's face appeared, it was gone again.

Depressed and alone, Sasuke put the bowl to the side and looked out the window. The clouds were gathering together, already grey. Sasuke left the window and his house. This was good weather to walk in.

* * *

A few minutes after stepping outside, it started raining. It didn't matter, though. He always walked in the rain when something had happened. No one ever walked the streets in the rain, and so he was in perfect solitude. The rain falling from the heavens was cold and refreshing - it made him believe the gods were looking after him, crying for him. It reminded him that one was never truly alone, no matter what the circumstance. 

Pain struck through Sasuke when he looked up to the sky. Was that Sakura's face up there, looking down on him and crying? Sasuke blinked, and she disappeared. Sasuke collapsed onto his knees, looked down at the puddle he had fallen into. He gasped when Gaara's face stared back at him instead of his own. _You have the same eyes as me, _Gaara's voice whispered through his thoughts. _You are like me. You live for only one reason: to avenge yourself and those around you by killing the one who hurt you. We have the same eyes...Eyes filled with hate, revenge, and loneliness. You, like me, were left alone your whole life. We live only to kill those who wronged us, and verify our existence. _

Sasuke hit the water, stood, hurried on. He was shaken by the cold now, but forced himself to continue on. Memories of both his team and his clan flashed through him in rapid succession. But the last...The last was what bothered him most. It had been Itachi, staring back at him over their parents' dead bodies and saying, "You're not even worth killing. If you wish to live, then run. Run, and cling to life in an unsightly way. If you wish to avenge your clan's death, then you must hate me, detest me, until your soul factor of living is to avenge the Uchiha clan - to kill me."

Why had Itachi's words come to mind? Was it because he had lost everything to his Nii-san's hand again? He couldn't think of any other explanation.

Sasuke kicked through a puddle in anger. Itachi was always taking what he held dear! Just when he was beginning to find refuge in Sakura and Naruto, Itachi ripped them away from him! Sure, Itachi wasn't _planning _on the both of the joining, but he wouldn't be complaining, either. He had ruined his aniki's like again, and this time, he didn't even have to do anything.

A thought hit Sasuke, and he stopped dead. Why not spite his brother and join the Akatsuki as well? Then he could see his friends again, and it would be a practical slap in the face to Itachi. _Hey, Nii-san! You got into an evil organization, only for the best ninjas? I did too! _Sasuke smiled at the thought. He missed his friends, and this was the only way he had to ever seen them alive again...Besides, what did Konoha have left for him, anyway? Nothing but ill memories of blood and pain. The best thing for him would be to go and join the Akatsuki.

His mind made up, Sasuke turned around and headed back home.

* * *

_**(Sakura) **_

It was raining. She could tell by both the temperature and the bestill silence that had fallen on the Akatsuki. Everyone had fallen into a sort of deep thought where they had lost themselves. They were all operating mechanically, passing the day by just by staring at one another. After she served dinner and ate, Sakura retired to her room where she proceeded to was up for bed.

Deidara walked in. "Hey, DeiDei." Sakura said as he entered. Deidara grunted a hello, but said nothing further. Sakura walked back over to her bed (the bathroom they both shared was on Deidara's side - the right) and began to get under the covers. She turned her back to Deidara, closed her eyes. About a second or two later, she felt Deidara's eyes on her. "Something wrong?" She asked as she half-turned to looked over her shoulder. Deidara was standing over her, a sort of lustful look in his eyes, and clenching his hands open and shut. He looked away at her voice. "Deidara?" she called his name again.

The only answer she got was Deidara gently climbing onto her bed and sitting on her (She was now fully on her back.) "Dei - ?" She began, but was stopped when Deidara's mouth landed on hers. She was surprised at first, but fell into the kiss and returned it. He let her up for air. "Deidara, what are you...?" Her voice drifted off as Deidara pulled off his Akatsuki cloak and got under the covers with her. Deidara kissed her again, intently, and she felt herself slipping...Deidara let her up again and she tried to speak, "Deidara, I'm - " he probably grew off her speaking again and stopped her with another deep kiss. She blushed firecely when he started pulling her pajamas off. He pulled his off as well, completed a seal jutsu. He backed off her a little, looked her over fiercely. Sakura's eyes widened when she thought, _Is he really going to...? _

"You're a work of art," Deidara whispered as he lay on her, putting one of his hands down by her. There was a second's pause before the mouth ejected it's tounge and swirled it around.

The hand! The tongue was...It was...

Sakura gasped in delight and threw her hands behind Deidara's head. She brought his face down to hers, kissed him as deeply as a virgin could. Sakura moaned, and Deidara rubbed her with his hands as the mouths got their taste of her. She wrapped her arms around his back, needfully grabbed the skin. He slowly entered, and she arched up. Slowly, he rocked his hips.

They repeated this process several times, before they were too tired to repeat themselves again. Deidara left her, laid beside her on the bed, under the covers. Sakura snuggled up beside him and whispered, "_You're _a work of art."

Deidara remained silent as he looked up at the ceiling. Then, "Sakura, if I'm ever to die before you, I want you to have my hands, un." Sakura studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Naruto will be back tomorrow with the new member. We'll be training after we watch the fight and settle everything."

"Who's he fighting?"

"Naruto."

_Hopefeully, I won't be Sasuke coming tomorrow, _Sakura thought to herself. _He and Naruto are too evenly matched..._"Will we be doing this again sometime?"

"I don't like commitments, un." Deidara said as he looked over to her.

"That's not what I asked," Sakura reminded him.

Deidara smiled. "You know, I like you a lot." They repeated their process.

* * *

_**(Sasuke) **_

He had decided to leave Konoha for good. He would join the Akatsuki with Sakura and Naruto. He had already arranged to meet one of them at the cliff overlooking Konoha. It was a peaceful enough spot, and it gave Sasuke a good final glance at his village. Silently, he paid his last respects to those he had known. Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Lee, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Shino, Kiba. He memorized their faces well - they were the people he were to remember when he thought of the Leaf Village.

The Chakra he felt approaching was strong. Could it possibly be...? No, he shoved the thought of Itachi out of his mind. The Chakra was strong but it was also familiar in a friendly way.

Sasuke turned around. The person was well-covered from sight. The neckband of the Akatsuki cloak covered the member's face up to their chin, and the coned hat he was wearing covered his eyes. His head was bent to the ground, so virtually nothing of his face could be seen. But he knew who it was.

"Sasuke," Naruto said as he removed the hat. "Long time no see."

Sasuke nodded, turned back to the sleeping village of Konoha. "Naruto," he began, "let's walk through Konoha one more time." He turned to Naruto, who had fallen silent. "I want a good last memory of my birthplace, the people I'm leaving behind." Naruto didn't hesitate before nodding. Replacing his hat, Naruto followed as Sasuke began to walk away.

* * *

They walked for a while, until the sun rose in the east. It had been a clear, crisp night, and so there was no reason for them to hurry. They took that time walking up and down every street of konoha, remembering all the things that had ever happened in team seven. They were silent for most of the time, but Sasuke found it better to remember that way. He smiled fondly as the memories flowed through his mind. 

"Sasuke, we should be going now - it's daybreak. I can't be seen."

Sasuke nodded, followed Naruto back.

From there to the Akatsuki base, the two were completely silent. Sasuke vaguely wondered what Sakura would say to him, and he also wondered if Naruto had told her what he had said..._She'll get over it, _he thought to himself. _But I thought I'd never see her again, which is why I acted so cold...I had to get over her, too. _He decided to try and explain it when he saw her.

They must've been walking longer then he thought, because by the time Naruto told him they had reached their destination, he was sweating.

Naruto stopped, turned to him. "You sure you want to do this, Sasuke? You're leaving - "

"What? There's nothing for me left in Konoha whatsoever. This is the best thing for me." Sasuke looked at the cave, and knew it continued straight. "My only regret," he began, "is that I'm following the same footsteps as my brother."

All was silent, before Naruto advanced and called to him, "Let's go, then." Sasuke nodded, followed after him.

Naruto led him through the Akatsuki base, bringing him to a dark black room that could've been big enough to hold the whole of Konoha within its perimeter. Naruto instructed him to wait, and so he did.

Sasuke turned his back, activated his Sharingan.

Unexpectedly, he could see through the darkness. The stadium _was _as big as he had predicted. But on the right side...There were people, in bleachers, watching.

That was when he spotted her pink hair. She was sitting between a blond-haired boy and Itachi. Sasuke shuddered at the sight of his Nii-san. The fear of him had not loosened in the least...

On a quick glance, Sasuke noticed Sakura was biting her lower lip, gripping the bar in front of the bleachers until her knuckles turned white. She looked anxious, as though she knew what was going to come and didn't want to see it. Her eyes glued to the battle area, Sakura watched intently.

Now aware of his surroundings, Sasuke knew what was going to happen. He looked back to where Naruto had been, just in time to see the kunai being thrown his way. He jumped aways from the kunai's trajectory range.

Naruto had attacked him. He took a few steps toward Sasuke, removed the Akatsuki cloak and slashed Leaf Village forehead protector, and through them to the ground. "Sasuke," Naruto began, "I'm not fighting you as a Leaf Ninja, nor an Akastuki member. I'm fighting you as myself, and representing only myself, Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke nodded, threw his forehead protector to the ground. "Naruto," he answered, following the same line of speech Naruto had, "I'm not fighting you as a Leaf Ninja or a Sound Ninja. I'm fighting you as myself, and representing only myself, Uchiha Sasuke."

The two of them fell into their stances, waiting for the other to move. Naruto's hand twitched by the pocked he carried his kunai in. Sasuke watched the hand. But he could see what Naruto was planning already. He was twitching his hand deliberately so that he wouldn't notice as Naruto formed a seal with his other hand. About fifty Naruto's encircled him, all smirking. Which was the real one? Shadow Replications made each a perfect copy of the rest, and so there was only one way to tell...

Sasuke jumped up as high into the air as he could, activated the Breathing Fire: Phoenix technique. Taking in a deep breath, he forced all of the air out of his lungs. The fire fell down upon all Narutos, but he hadn't seen any explode...

"You're going to have to think higher then that, Sasuke!" All the Narutos yelled from behind. Sasuke spun around to see fifty Naruto copies pulling their arms back for a punch...

Sasuke covered his face, took the blow. Only, it wasn't in many different areas as he had anticipated - all fifty of the Naruto fists had combined themselves together and had concentraited their strike on one area: the stomach. He was expecting the blows to be so concentrated, and so it only hurt more. Coughing up blood, Sasuke fell back out of the air and skid to a halt on his back.

Naruto landed on his feet, calmly walked over to Sasuke. By now, Sasuke had already commenced his plan...

While Naruto was staring down at the Shadow Replication, the real Sasuke jumped down on him from behind, exerting all his Chakra into the kick.

Naruto collapsed onto his shoulder. Was he excited or had he heard a few bones crack...? Before Naruto could get up again, Sasuke pulled him to his feet so that Naruto was forced to look him in the eyes. "Is that the best you've got?" Sasuke taunted. "Akatsuki standards must have dropped."

Head down, Naruto replied with a chuckle, "Don't you realize what you're doing?"

"Hmm?" Sasuke asked with a slight tilt of the head.

Just then, something grabbed him from behind and clenched claws down into Sasuke's shoulders. He immediately dropped Naruto, shouted out. As he leaped away, Naruto shouted, "You're falling for every single one of my traps!" The thing clawing into Sasuke's shoulders kicked him in the back, _hard_, and threw him into the ground. His back cracked painfully, but he stumbled to his feet again. He had to at least see what had grabbed him like that...

It was Kyuubi-Naruto! Had Naruto lost control of himself already, or was this just a trick? Perhaps Naruto was trying to scare him into a retreat...

Sasuke backed up from the red, slanted eyes, giving himself some room. He studied Naruto with his Sharingan, tried to work everything out. He could see the Kyuubi's Chakra flowing through Naruto, alongside his own. He tried to predict what Naruto would do next, but it was useless when he wasn't moving. The Sharingan could predict a person's movements, but it couldn't read their mind. Sasuke jumped back, threw a test kunai.

It was a shadow replication! Sasuke's eyes widened as the replication exploded.

"Rasengan!" came a shout from behind. Sasuke had enough time to glance behind himself. Naruto's red eye gleamed as the light of the Rasengan hit it. So Naruto really _wasn't _faking. He had lost control, enough for the Kyuubi's Chakra to run through him freely. However, he had also been able to contain the beast to his advantage. Impressive.

Naruto's attack hit him square in the back. It had been too quick to dodge, and so he had no other choice. Naruto used Sasuke as a pillow as the two of them fell to the ground. Pain shot through him, almost completely clouding his mind.

But he had one trick left. The one move he swore never to call up again. But if he was to ever join the Akatsuki, he had to show them his true capabilities. He had to admit, thought, that he was afraid to use it. What if he lost control, went wild? What if he accidentally killed Naruto?

_No, that wouldn't happen. _He thought to himself, _Last time I was able to keep a good hold on myself, so hopefully..._Sasuke stood, let his head hang. He felt the numbness all around him, filing him as well. Deep, deep within himself, he felt the burning soul that was the hell of the Uchiha Clan. The monster within them all that was used as the ultimate weapon. It was the fire within them that kept them all alive...

He ignored the painful strikes of kunai as they dug into him. He carefully listened to the demon as it muttered to him. _Not ready yet, _Sasuke thought to himself, snapping back to reality. He opened his eyes, looked up. _I have to by some time..._Naruto was about one hundred feet away from him, watching him intently. Sasuke stared at him, thinking. _I might not even have to call 'it' up if I use my Chidori..._

Sasuke ran toward Naruto, carefully planning. From right about _here_, he'd have a good striking distance. Sasuke stopped. Naruto had tensed up as he approached, but loosened a bit when he stopped. "All out of options already?" He taunted. "You're weak."

The words echoed through his mind. _You're weak. _They brought up painful memories of he and his brother. _You're weak, _Itachi always told him._ Why are you weak? Because you lack hatred. _Itachi would always whisper 'hatred' in his ear so that he felt contempt and scorn for his Nii-san - so he felt the hate Itachi thrived on. But, through the combined love of Sakura and Naruto, he had promised himself that he would never need hate to live. And he didn't. He used hate only to find the ambition to chase after his brother.

Groveling up some of that hate, Sasuke found the strength to want to attack his best friend. He activated Chidori, dug his hand into the ground, and ran toward Naruto. He would win and prove himself worthy of being an Akatsuki member. He would beat Naruto and prove to the both of them - Naruto and he - that _he _was the better of the two for once and for all. Sasuke brought up his arm, aimed for Naruto's heart.

At that exact moment, Naruto had flung forward with his Rasengan. The two of them jumped up into the air, bearing arms aimed at one another, ready to be the giver of the final strike. The two of them hit one another's hand, flew back due to the collision. _The distance between us, _Sasuke thought as he landed to the ground on his feet, _Has not changed at all. Just as me and Itachi are equals, so are Naruto and I. What have I been doing with my training? Why can't I beat them?_

_You don't have enough hatred, _Itachi's voice haunted him, and he knew it was time. He dug deep within himself, felt the monster claw at him beneath the surface.

* * *

_**(Sakura) **_

She had sat most of the time, anxiously biting the side of her lower lip and gripping the bar in front of the seats until her knuckles turned a painful white. She was sure her hands had cramped shut around the poles by now, but that was the last of her worries. The minutes she saw Sasuke trailing behind a very late Naruto, she knew. She knew it was going to be a long and painful battle for the both of them - they were too evenly matched for it to be over quickly.

When Itachi had seen his aniki, Sakura noticed, out of the corner of her eye, his ring finger twitched. Had he not expected it to be Sasuke Naruto was fetching, or _was _he expecting it?

Deidara, however, chuckled. "Who's _this _guy? His hair looks like a duck's ass, un."

Sakura didn't take her eyes off the stadium. "Uchiha Sasuke," she whispered. She saw Deidara look over to her out of the corner of her eye, heard him repeat the name. Out of the corner of her other eye, she noticed Itachi was staring at the stage just as hard as she was. Sakura leaned forward in her seat, eager to see the outcome.

Naruto left Sasuke long enough for his guard to fall, then returned, removing his cloak and slashed forehead protector. He told Sasuke he was fighting him as himself, and only for himself. Sasuke said the same as he threw his headband to the ground.

The two of them fell into their stances, and a few short moments later, Sasuke was encircled in about fifty Narutos. Sasuke had then jumped up and activated the Breathing Fire:Phoenix technique was burned them all. The actual Naruto had gotten away, as well as the other forty-nine Narutos. They all came in from behind and concentrated their power to hit Sasuke in one area: the stomach. Sasuke hadn't been expecting the blows to be so concentrated, and he fell back.

Then Naruto calmly walked toward Sasuke. But Sasuke had left a Shadow Replication behind and moved behind Naruto. When he let his guard down completely, Sasuke attached from behind, striking Naruto's shoulder with his leg. There was a sickening sound of bones cracking, where Sakura leaned further forward and whispered, "Naruto!" Sasuke pulled Naruto to his feet, taunted him.

He wasn't expecting a shadow replication of Naruto to come from behind and dig sharp claws into his shoulders. Sasuke screamed out, dropped Naruto. The feint Naruto kicked Sasuke's back in and dropped Sasuke to the floor. Sasuke forced himself up again and looked into the eyes of the Shadow Replication. He slowly began to back up.

Sasuke let his head drop, stayed there for a while. Naruto threw several kunai at him, which all hit, but Sasuke remained unresponsive. Then, he looked up and jumped back. He threw a kunai at the Replication, only to find it _was _a Replication.

From behind, Naruto attacked with Rasengan. Sasuke was able to look back briefly, before the attack hit. Naruto used Sasuke as a pillow as the two of them fell to the ground.

Sasuke laid where he and Naruto had hit for a while. Then, he returned to his feet. He thought for only a few minutes before he dug his arms into the ground and activated Chirdori. Naruto simultaneously activated Rasengan, and the two jumped toward each other. They were too evenly matched, and went flying from the impact of the other's attack.

The two of them maneuvered through the air and landed on their feet. Sasuke dropped his head again for a longer while then before. Presumably bored, Naruto stepped up close to Sasuke and reactivated his Rasengan. He said something, but Sakura wasn't sure exactly what he said. The seats were about fifty feet up, and so hearing was at a minimal.

Sasuke looked up again, and shock ran through Naruto - he stepped back, almost completely losing both his Rasengan and his stance. Sakura stood to get a better look, gasped. The Sasuke she knew was no longer there - _this _Sasuke had large, demon-like wings, and his face had changed completely. He wasn't Sasuke anymore, he was...A true monster.

Sakura gripped onto the silver bar so tightly her knuckles began to bleed. She stood there, hardly able to move, and said to Itachi, "What is this, Itachi-san? What has Sasuke done to himself?"

Itachi's emotionless voice answered, "He's done nothing to himself - this is a curse all Uchihas are born with. He's just learned to call upon it."

"But can he _control _it?" Deidara broke in.

"That all depends on Sasuke's will power. If he _does _loose control, all we have to do is something that will trigger his actual mind and force him to remember."

"You're so calm about it, Itachi-san."

"You don't seem any less, un." Deidara replied.

Sakura nodded. "Shock does these things to you."

The three of them, plus the rest of the Akatsuki, watched as both Naruto and Sasuke were taken over by their inner demons.

Naruto backed away from Sasuke slowly. His Rasengan deactivated, and he backed up again. The creature that was Sasuke was slowly following him, growling. _Any false move, _Sakura thought as she watched, _anything too fast or sudden, and he's dead. _She could feel the tensed air all around the Akatsuki as they watched with bated breath. Even _if _Sasuke lost to Naruto somehow, he would be admitted, just as Naruto had when he lost to Itachi. They now knew exactly how powerful Sasuke was, and there was no way they'd let such an oppertunity slip. Sakura gulped, hoped Sasuke didn't accidentally kill Naruto.

Speaking of Naruto, he jumped back, convincing the Sasuke-creature that he was an enemy. Sasuke swung, hit Naruto. Naruto went flying, skidded on his back, burying deep into the ground. Dazed, he slowly got up, swaying and almost falling as he did so. Sasuke jumped up andused those leather wings to actually _fly. _He flew over Naruto, who jumped out of the way.

It was a meticulous game of cat-and-mouse for quite a while. As fast as Naruto could jump away, Sasuke could fly and follow. What was Naruto going to do? There was no way of telling.

Until, that is, Naruto was _stupid _enough to throw a kunai at the creature. It picked him up and threw him into the far wall. There was a loud cracking noise as Naruto's back hit the wall, and he blacked out.

Sakura couldn't keep it in any longer. "Naruto!" She shouted, pushing her head over the railing. "Naruto, get up!" There was no response from Naruto.

The Sasuke-thing had departed. Where had it gone? Sakura looked around, but there was nothing to be seen.

Then, suddenly, he landed on the railing, exactly where Sakura was. His hands were holding it just outside hers, his feet between hers. She could feel his breath on her face, could feel the radiating heat from his body. He tilted his head at her sight, in a curious way.

Gulping, Sakura slowly released her hands from the railing, slowly took a step. Sasuke jumped onto the platform where she had previously been standing. Breathing heavilly, she took another step back. Sasuke took another step towards her.

Unfortunately, Sasuke looked past her and spotted Itachi. He instantly smacked her away, hitting her cheek and deeply cutting it. Her head snapped to the right from his hit. She fell back, feeling the flesh wound and gasping at the sight of her own blood. The _real _Sasuke would never have hit her like that...

She had to think of something and quick. Sasuke was quickly approaching Itachi, and there was no way Itachi could fend him off in that state. Something that would trigger his actual self...What could she do that would snap Sasuke out of this?

The answer came to her almost immediately, and her heart leapt.

Sakura got to her feet, all the while watching for the perfect opportunity. Adrenaline rushing through her, she stood and forced herself to run in front of Itachi. She paused and stared into Sasuke's demon-like face for only a second before she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him as passionately as she could. She held his face in her hands, felt it as it contorted back to Sasuke's normal form. She saw the beast-human's eyes widden. Slowly, the Sharingan fadded away, and the wings slowly retracted. Sakura backed off him, held his face in her hands. "Sakura," Sasuke began, "don't let me do that again." He collapsed into her arms.

Sakura nodded, whispered in his ear, "I promise." She wasn't sure if he was awake to hear it or not.

* * *

**A/n**

**Aha! How do ya like that one? Little - okay ALOT - of Deidara and Sakura in the middle , that I'm very fond of. Because of it, rating shall increase to M. There will be further scenes, so be prepared! Well, that's enough for tonight, so later the next chapter is: Chapter 8: Coming Clean**


	8. Chapter 8: Coming Clean

**Chapter 8: Coming Clean**

Sasuke awoke on a bed. His ears were ringing in a painfully loud tone, and he wished he could go to sleep again. He rolled his head over to the left and watched the still unconscious body of Naruto breathe. It seemed labored.

Sasuke sat up in the bed, held his head in his right hand. It was spinning with the effort to stay awake and remember. Wy had he let the 'fire,' as he called it, overtake him like that? He didn't remember anything after the complete change...

"Oh, you're awake." A familiar voice said to him. He looked over to see Sakura, setting a try by Naruto's bed, which had his clothes on it, along with a lily. "Naruto should be waking up soon as well."

She turned to leave. "Sakura," Sasuke began, she stopped. "What happened? Are you alright?" He had noticed a large cut on her left cheek.

"I'm fine." She said softly. "You know what happened, don't you? You were there." She continued on, leaving him.

Sasuke sat there for a while, just thinking. _Something bad happened, _he thought to himself. _Did I hurt her?_ He gulped, recalling the large cut on her cheek. _What exactly happened after I changed? _

* * *

_**(Sakura)**_

"Why don't you heal the cut?" Deidara asked her. "It'll scar if you don't."

Sakura held her fingers to the scar, thinking. "I can't," she answered. "This is the best it'll heal. It hurts too much to try any more."

They were sitting at the long table. They were at the end on the left side. Deidara was at her right, Itachi directly across from her, and Gaara on his free side. They were seperated from the rest of the Akatsuki - the others were more interested in the battle - whilst the four of them were interested in the demon Sasuke had become. "Can't heal it?" Deidara repeated, "'Cause it hurts to much? I've never heard of such a thing, un."

Sakura shook her head. "Neither have I." She paused before adding, "Sasuke's up. Two days. I never expected Naruto to sleep that long. But when I went near the room, I _knew _he was awake, because the cut _burned._ Almost to the point where I didn't want to enter. And when he looked at me, it felt as though my face was on fire. I couldn't look at him."

She had been directing the statement at Itachi, but all he said was, "The Uchihas hide many secrets from the world. This is one of them." In other words, he didn't know.

"What's for dinner?" A foreign voice asked them. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days!"

Sakura looked over her shoulder to see Naruto there, fully dressed, holding his stomach, a tired look to his face. Sakura smiled at his presence. "That's because you haven't." She answered as she stood. "You and Sasuke have been asleep for two days." She motioned to her spot. "Here, sit. I'll go fix you up a little something." She smiled warmly and left the four of them.

Naruto dropped his head onto the table when Sakura was out of view. He held the shoulder in which Sasuke had kicked, rubbed it. "I've only seen...'that' once before, and I wasn't planning on ever seeing it again."

No one had anything to say to that, so Deidara changed the subject. "I heard our mission partners are being changed to accommodate for all the new recruits. Is that true, Master Itachi?"

Itachi nodded briefly. "The new groups will be of three."

Naruto looked up. "Any chance of me being paired with Sakura and Sasuke?"

"No. Sakura's to stay here, forever." Naruto looked down sadly, nodded.

* * *

A little while later, after the four of them continued talking, Sakura reappeared from the kitchen. "Naruto!" She shouted cheerfully as she approached. "Here ya go!" She set a steaming bowl of Ramen - beautifully decorated with egg, ham, and other delictables - in front of him, handing him a pair of chopsticks.

Naruto looked down to the bowl for only a second before he gleefully shouted, "Ramen!" and began the quick process of slurping up the soup.

Sakura winced and held her cheek. She grunted, used her free hand to support herself on the table. She felt Itachi's eyes on her, but she couldn't muster up the strength to say anything.

She was almost to her knees before Sasuke appeared. His body and face had reverted back to his normal features, but the leather bat-like wings had remained. His Sharingan had remained activated as well, and he seemed oblivious to both. Sakura nearly fell to the ground.

Sasuke stopped in front of her, watching as the pain soon became too much to bear. "Sakura," he began. She tried her best to look up to him, but by now she could hardly move. "It hurts, right? The cut?" She gritted her teeth. Sasuke ignored that. "I know how to get rid of the pain." He bent down to her, removed her hand gently, and carefully placed his free hand over the cut. With what looked like no conscious effort at all, Sasuke sent something that looked like Chakra from his hand to the cut. He stood. "It'll scar, though. No surpassing that." He began to walk past.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called back, holding the now-scar. Sasuke stopped. "Where are you going?"

Sasuke shrugged, continued on. "I'll be back later."

Sakura watched him go, but said nothing further. She gently held the now-scar, staring at Sasuke's back, as she was accustomed to. The leathery wings connected to him seemed to stretch and flex of their own accord, as though they were their own selves. Sakura stared at the wings, puzzled, before Naruto's speech snapped her out of it.

"He's got holes in his shirt from where the wings were."

"Were?" Sakura repeated, looking over to him, climbing to her feet. "They're still there, along with his Sharingan."

Deidara shook his head. "No, he had neither the wings nor the Sharingan. He looked normal, un."

Sakura's face went blank. "You mean...You didn't see...?"

"It's probably just shock, Sakura-chan." Naruto said to her with a nod. "You've been up for those two days, haven't you?" A guilty look swept over her face. She nodded. "You need rest, Sakura-chan! Go get some sleep. Everything here's covered." Sakura hesitated for the briefest of moments, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto shoved the long-empty bowl to the side and set his head down on the table, which he cushioned with his arms. "Seeing Sasuke like that really traumatized her." He said softly. "I wasn't expecting him to use it again."

"Whatever it is, it's strong, un." Deidara answered. "Anyway, I'm going to bed." He departed.

"Three demons," Naruto whispered as he held up three fingers. "Two Jinchuuriki. One Bloodline Limit demon. Who'll join next?" Itachi and Gaara gave no answer.

* * *

_**(Sasuke)**_

It was raining. His favorite thinking weather. He had changed to a simple white shirt and black pants after Orochimaru, the back of which bore the slightest symbol of the Uchiha clan at the base of the neck. The shirt had been torn open where his shoulder blades where. The fabric hung limp, just sitting there. The areas where the wings had been ached.

Sasuke walked on cooly through the rain, not bothering to move his bangs away from his face. The rain poured down all around him. He continued on, ignoring the chill.

Sakura was afraid of him - of what he had become. That much he knew. Healing her wound only confirmed it. He knew the wounds created by an Uchiha whilst in that state never healed, unless the Uchiha in question healed it. In that form, if you were seriously injured, there was no saving you unless the Uchiha wanted you alive. Otherwise, the wound would remain and burn whenever the Uchiha came near.

Sasuke stopped. He had heard that before. _Had _he heard that before? He had to have if he knew. Maybe Itachi had mentioned it once before? No, this was an aspect of the Uchiha clan Itachi wouldn't touch - he _feared _that happening to him. So who had said that. Orochimaru, maybe? No, Orochimaru knew little of this secret. Kakashi? No, he wouldn't have known anything, either. Damn! _Who _told him that?

Sasuke continued on again when an - almost inaudible - voice whispered, _You already knew. _

Sasuke walked for a while before those thoughts evaporated and new ones came pouring onto him with the rain. _Should _he join the Akatsuki? It was a choice now, since he'd won. Why not, though? What was still left at the Leaf Village that wasn't at the Akatsuki? Nothing. Everything he originally had was taken long ago, and the new people he had loved had left him. So he followed. That was what he had always done. He lived under Itachi's shadow, performed under Naruto's, and even loved under Sakura's. He said he lived to surpass them, but in reality, he hadn't been able to surmount his deep, inner fears for Itachi, his secret admiration and friendship of Naruto, and his love for Sakura. He had never been able to admit that he would never beat Itachi, would never be able to actually hate Naruto, and would never be able to admit his love for Sakura. Although he had hinted this many times in the past, his friends remained ignorant, blissfully unaware of his thoughts.

Sasuke stopped again. He had decided. To stay with his friends, to overcome and someday surmount Itachi's skills, and maybe find the strength to admit his feelings for Sakura, he would join the Akatsuki. Sasuke turned around and headed back to the base.

* * *

By the time he had returned, it had stopped raining. Sasuke entered the Akatsuki base with ease - they had already included him in the earth jutsu. So he had been accepted. But why wouldn't they accept him? He, aside from Gaara and Naruto, was the most powerful aid to them. Without the three of them, the Akatsuki were hardly worth mentioning.

But he knew that wasn't true - it was a fake facade he had just thought up to want to join more. Anyway, he was a good fighter. Almost as good as Naruto. But in order to defeat Itachi, Sasuke had to get rid of Naruto first.

Sasuke pushed the thoughts out of his mind and joined Itachi, Gaara, and Naruto at the table. "Have you decided?" Itachi asked him, impassive as ever.

Sasuke nodded. "I'll join."

He was sitting beside Naruto, across from Gaara, who was sitting beside Itachi. The others had departed. "You look just like Itachi," Naruto noted.

"Baka," Sasuke said simply. "Itachi and I are nothing alike."

"You're right. He's a better fighter."

Sakura had returned at this queue. "Can't sleep," she answered Naruto's glare. "But I _did _sleep a little."

Sasuke ignored her appearance. "Are you trying to say something, blockhead?"

"What did you just say?!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up and pointed at Sasuke. Sasuke remained silent. "I _know _you didn't just call me a blockhead!"

"And what are you going to do about it, blockhead?" Sakura sweat dropped when she realized what was happening. Sasuke, though, he secretly loved these moments where the two of them fought. He's remember these above anything.

Naruto was fuming. He spoke calmly, as though he wasn't angry at all. Both he and Sakura knew that was how to anger Sasuke the most - remind him of his brother. "You know, _I _think Itachi destroying the clan was a good thing. Otherwise, there'd be more of _you _running around."

That struck hard. He remained silent, however, until he replied, "At least I had a family once. At least I wasn't hated and detested by all of Konoha my whole life."

"You take that back!" He was going to break, any minute.

"And if I don't?" He gently laid his head on his hands, as he had always done.

"I'll fight you!"

"You lost before, you'll loose again."

"Fight me. We'll see who's better." He clenched his fists.

Sasuke stood calmly, turned his back. "Are you kidding? You're not even worth fighting."

Naruto growled, yelled his name. "I won't loose to you again! _Never _again!" Sasuke turned around just in time to see Naruto, inches from his face, Rasengan aimed at him.

But, just when the hit was supposed to come, it didn't. Sasuke's eyes widened when Itachi appeared in front of him, cooly holding Naruto's Rasengan-bearing hand. It slowly fadded, and Itachi bent his hand back, causing him to shout in pain. "Don't pick fights," he told Naruto calmly. "It leads to nothing but unnesecary pain and wounds." He dropped Naruto, who fell to the ground on his knees, holding his wrist and cursing.

Itachi turned to Sasuke. "And you, otouto, don't instigate." He brought his hand up, cooly jabbed his brother in the forehead, just like old times. And Sasuke, according to their ritual, muttered an 'ow' and rubbed his forehead. "The two of you have to make a room for yourselves. Bathroom, working outlets, and so on. Until then, no training for either of you." He left, collecting Gaara.

"What was that forehead thing?" Naruto asked as Sakura sat beside him and tended to his wrist.

Sasuke, still holding his forehead, replied, "It's something he always used to do."

There was an awkward silence, which Sakura broke when she said to them, "You two shouldn't pick fights with one another so much. It makes you look bad."

"We have to make our own room of the mountain," Sasuke said to Naruto. "Until then, neither of us will have training."

Naruto growled. "How are we to do that? Besides, I have my own room with Sasori. Why should _I _help you?"

"He said 'you and Naruto.' Maybe Sasori doesn't like you as a roommate? Either way, it's a difficult project."

Naruto dropped his head. "I know. How are we supposed to carve a room out of stone?"

"We'd have to find a native of the - "

"Stone Village!" They both said in unison, running off to find the one ninja in that Akatsuki that had once belonged the Hidden Village of Stone.

* * *

**A/n**

**There's chapter 8. Otouto, by the way, means 'little brother'. And we all know what was goin' on when Sakura went to bed, and Deidara followed, ne? Lol. Anyway, Chapter 9: Stone Village Style. **


	9. Chapter 9: Stone Village Style

**Chapter 9: Stone Village Style**

Naruto and Sasuke ran around the Akatsuki base as though their lives depended on it. They ran around to each door they saw, and together, were able to locate Deidara. Sasuke didn't really know Deidara, Naruto knew. He had only a glimpse of the blonde artist, but that was enough. Sasuke was good with faces.

They located Deidara on the way out of his and Sakura's bathroom. He emerged from the steamy showed, head down, left hand against the left flank of the wall, nothing but a towel on where appropriate. He looked up, jumped, and held the towel at their sight, clearly embarrassed. Red-faced, he shouted at them, "What are you doing here?!"

"Deidara-san!" Naruto yelled happily as he put his hand behind his head and smiled. "Can you help us carve out a room?"

"Why should I, un?" He gripped the corner of the towel tightly.

"We need help!" Naruto pleaded. "Pleeeease, Deidara-senpai?"

Deidara dropped his head. "Frankly, I'd rather cut my arms off, un. But it looks like I have no other option here." He stopped for a moment, then raised his head and said to them, "But I don't want to hear 'senpai' again, got it?"

Naruto nodded. "Arigato, Deidara-san!"

Deidara turned his back to them. "Now," he began, "leave me." He departed into the bathroom. Naruto and Sasuke left.

* * *

A few moments later, Deidara emerged from the bedroom, tying his hair back into that high ponytail of his. Naruto and Sasuke had been waiting on either sides of the doorway, and had greeted him. Well, Naruto had anyway. Sasuke remained silent, as impassive as ever. Naruto excitedly began his chattering, which Deidara soon silenced.

The three of them proceeded an inspection of the Akatsuki base, searching for the opportune area to build a room. It took a while for Naruto and Sasuke to agree on an area, but, with constant thoughts from Deidara, they agreed on a spot just before the entrance to the stadium. Theirs was the last room before it, across from Leader's and diagonally across from Zetsu's. It was a quiet spot, because the Akatsuki didn't use the stadium to train - there was another place _inside _the perimeter of the mountain they used.

Deidara had sighed when Sasuke and Naruto had finally stopped arguing. "So, here?" Naruto and Sasuke both nodded. "_Finally. _At this rate, you'll never be able to train again, un." He had heard about their problems whilst they were arguing. "Let's get started, then. How tall should the doorway be?" He sweat dropped when Naruto and Sasuke started arguing again. Tired of the yelling, he shouted, "Enough!" And they silenced instantly. "If you're to sleep in the same room, you have to agree to disagree sometimes, un! You can't argue every chance you get - nothing will be accomplished. Now, before I quit, _how tall is the doorway going to be_, un?"

All was silent between the two before Naruto had come up with something. "I got it! How 'bout we," -here he jumped up, grabbed Deidara's hair, and straightened it up against the wall-- "cut it to _here_? Then we'll have enough room, no matter what." He marked the spot off with his kunai. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

Deidara nodded as well, took out a kunai of his own, marked out the doorway completely. "Keep in mind, this isn't an overnight job, un. It takes _months_, maybe even years."

"_Years_?!" Naruto and Sasuke repeated in unison. "All that time without training or beds or showers?!" Naruto wailed.

"Of course you'll have beds and showers," Deidara calmed him, "but with your own room, you can do with it as you like. But, if you'd rather share a room with someone else and never train, un..." he shrugged, turned his back to them.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Naruto shouted in rapid succession. "I want all those things! Let's do this!"

Deidara looked over his shoulder at Naruto, smirked and nodded. He turned to the wall, placed four clay spiders at each corner of the door-to-be, as well as one in the middle. He back up, motioned for Naruto and Sasuke to do the same. They followed him back.

Deidara formed a seal and uttered the command, and the five spiders exploded, all at once. When the dust cleared, there was a depression that cut into the wall about a foot. Deidara looked to Naruto, then Sasuke, and said to them, "It's a slow process, un. But if you stick with it, it becomes a true piece of art."

"But we have Rasengan and Chidor!" Naruto pointed out.

"The Chidori needs to be guided along a wall or floor, correct, un?"

"Not necessarily," Sasuke said with a shake of his head. "I can use my other arm to keep it straight."

"And how many blows?"

"Two."

"And the Rasengan?"

"Until I run out of Chakra."

Deidara nodded. "So neither of you can use an attack forever - completely normal. Carving a room out of a mountain is a painstaking process, and rushing it doesn't help. But Chidori and Rasengan make deep depressions in rock. Show me a bit, un." He stepped out of the way, giving the two of them clearance.

Naruto, overeager to show his strengths, was the first to go. He activated Rasengan and, growling, struck at the desired area.

When the dust cleared, Naruto was happy to note the depression was a considerable size. Taking deep breaths, he hit the doorway again. It was definitely getting there! Over zealous, Naruto again used Rasengan. He could feel the Chakra coming to a halt, and so he did the same. Panting, he backed up to Sasuke and Deidara.

"Far enough," Sasuke said to him with a smirk. "Let's see what I can do." He took a few steps forward, formed the seal for Chidori. It came easily and without hesitation. Smirking, Sasuke held the Chidori-bearing arm in his free hand. He attacked the wall perfectly, without a problem.

Moving his hand and waving the dust away, Sasuke almost laughed when he realized what a different Chidori had done to the wall. It was by far deeper. Sasuke took a few steps back, repeated the process. The only other difference between he and Naruto, however, was that Naruto had been able to strike the wall three times. But compared to Naruto's Rasengan, Sasuke's Chidori was better by far.

Panting, he fell back in line. "You two are strong allies, un." Deidara observed.

Just then, another voice, from behind. "Meeting. Group changes." Naruto and Sasuke looked over to where the voice was coming from to see a man that seemed to be hidden in the shadows. They couldn't get a clear view of him, but his eyes were red.

Turning back to Deidara, Naruto observed he wasn't affected by the strange man's appearance. "Did you not hear Leader, you two, un? Meeting. Let's go." Naruto looked over his shoulder, back to where the Leader person had been. He wasn't there. Although still curious, Naruto looked forward, stumbling along with Sasuke.

Arms bleeding and breathing heavily, Naruto and Sasuke collapsed by the table. Naruto fell first. Sasuke, trying to hold his composure, looked to the ground and said to Itachi and Gaara who were sitting there, "Boka. He used up all his Chakra..." he swayed, and fell, landing diagonally across Naruto. There was a _thump _and an "Oof!" from Naruto, but neither had the strength to do anything.

From what he could tell, though, everyone was attending the meeting. But of course. The teams were being changed, and they had to be there to see who they were stuck with.

That Leader person appeared, standing at the opposite foot of the table. Naruto guessed he was hiding in the shadows again. _Damn it, _Naruto thought to himself, _Who exactly _is _that guy? What does he actually look like? _"Alright, some of the teams are being changed; others are being added, et cetera. First of all, team one is going to be Naruto and Sasuke." Naruto growled. Stuck with Sasuke whenever assigned to a mission. Oh well. "Speaking of Naruto and Sasuke, where are they?"

Sasuke and Naruto both moaned as loud as they could, used each other to stand, and fell over again. "They began the process of carving out their room, un." Naruto head Deidara explain.

Leader must've nodded, because he continued on, "Itachi, Kisame, Gaara will be team number two. Deidara and Sasori form three. Kakuzu and Hidan, you will remain teammates. Zetsu remains single. Everyone got that?" There were murmurs of agreement. "Oh, and Sakura," Leader began. Naruto guessed she looked up at him, because he continued on, "You still have not beaten another member. Therefore, you wil remain a hostage until you do so. Understood?" There was a beginning of a line of speech, but someone quieted her. Naruto presumed it was Deidara. Sakura must've nodded from there, because Leader finished, "Very well. You will fight against Sasori tomorrow at sunset. Meeting adjourned." He left the table, along with Zetsu, Hidan, Kisame, Kakuzu, Sasori, Itachi, and Gaara.

Deidara and Sakura came into Naruto'-s plain of view. Deidara rolled Sasuke off Naruto and sat the both of them up. He spoke to them, "Tomorrow we'll continue on your room. Don't use up every last bit of Chakra again, un. Understand?" They both managed a nod. Deidara departed.

Sakura then had the both of them swallow some gooey medicine that hit Naruto's stomach like a rock. She gave a weak smile.

"Sakura," Sasuke began, "don't worry about your match with that Sasori person. You'll do great - I know it."

Sakura's smiled went from an upset one to a joyful one. She hunched both Naruto and Sasuke onto her shoulders and helped them to their rooms.

* * *

A few hours later, Naruto awoke in his former room with Sasori. The puppeteer was not present, and so all was quiet. Yawning as he sat upright and stretched, Naruto rubbed his left eye and began the thought process. Sakura must've brought him here. Last he remembered, she was bringing he and Sasuke somewhere. Had the gooey syrup done this? Naruto felt very energetic now, so he supposed it was supposed to do that.

Naruto left the room and headed toward the Meeting Table. A few Akatsuki were there already, including Deidara and Sakura. He sat down across the table from them, yawned again.

"Ohiyo Naruto!" Sakura said to him as he sat down. "Did you sleep well?"

Naruto nodded. "What was that stuff? Did you put something in it?"

"Basically just fiber. So much puts you to sleep, but leaves you feeling energetic when you wake. Do you feel any better? More energized?"

Naruto, not interested in words for once, nodded. "Good," Deidara broke in. "We've got to get that room of yours carved out, right, un?" He seemed pretty confident all of a sudden. Naruto just moaned in reply.

Just then, Sasuke walked over, sat down beside Naruto. He yawned, held his head up with his left arm. "You seem exhausted, Sasuke." Sakura noted. "Did you not sleep well?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment, then, "I kept waking up. And when I looked over to the opposite bed..." He closed his eyes.

"Sorry 'bout him," Sakura apologized. "I forgot about each side mumbling in its sleep." Naruto guessed she had put him in Zetsu's room.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm fine. But what about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you ready for the battle against Sasori?"

Naruto felt the slightest shred of fear radiate from Sakura. "I have all day to prepare." She answered cooly.

"You seem confident."

"And why shouldn't I be?"

"You're weak." He answered simply, as though there was nothing wrong with stating it.

Sakura looked as though she was going to kill him, but all she said was, "We'll see."

Gaara and Itachi joined the group, Gaara sitting beside Sasuke, Itachi on the opposite side of the table, beside Deidara. Itachi must've heard his otouto, because he said to him, "Frankly Sasuke, your skills are below Sakura's." Naruto had to lay his head down on the table to muffle his laughter.

Sasuke ignored his aniki's appearance completely and said to Sakura, "I wouldn't be surprised if he kills you. He wouldn't have to even blink."

Sakura remained calm. She must've been watching Itachi - everyone knew that was what annoyed Sasuke the most: no reaction. "Do you think so? You know better then to think so poorly of those around you, don't you? I mean, didn't you always tell Naruto how much of a baka he was? And yet, you and I both know you'll never be able to surpass him." She closed her eyes, letting no signs of victory show on her face.

Naruto smirked. _Picked up some traits from other members, have we, Sakura? _he thought to her through his thoughts.

To both Naruto and Sakura's surprise, Sasuke chuckled, stood, and made to leave. As he walked away, he said to her, "You know, Sakura, I always thought you were ugly. Your forehead is _huge._"

All eyes - or at least the eyes of Naruto and Deidara - turned to her. She sat there for a moment, her face slowly turning a scarlet hue. She blinked, and the whites of her eyes were a light pink. She sniffled, wiped her left eye. But all was in vain. When a tear fell, she stood and left.

Naruto watched her go, half disgusted with himself. He hadn't tried to stop Sasuke, hadn't tried to defend or comfort her. He had abandoned her in her time of need - the soul thing he had sworn never to do. He smacked himself across the head, called himself a baka in his mind. How would she react to nis neglect? He hoped she didn't hate him for leaving her. He hadn't intended to. Besides, even if he _had _said something in defense, she may have been embarrassed. Naruto again hoped she didn't hate him.

"Why does she always take Master Sasuke's words so deeply to heart, un?" Deidara asked in an agitated voice.

"She's loved him for years," Naruto answered softly. "How would you feel if Sakura treated _you _like a pathetic rag doll?"

Deidara looked away. "I don't like her like that, so I wouldn't know."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it hurts. Being pushed away from the one you love constantly. She kept coming back, he kept pushing away harder. But she believed in him. And he crushed her everytime. Eventually, it gets to you."

"Loneliness crushes," Gaara finally spoke. "The black abyss drags you down to its depths, and there's no escape."

"The only way to climb out again is other people. Once they acknowledge you and take you in, you find the strength to be yourself again. Sakura's always wanted to be accepted by Sasuke, and she would've done anything for it. Slowly, because of him, the abyss is taking her."

* * *

_**(Sasuke)**_

He had done it this time. He had pushed Sakura too far this time - she wouldn't bounce back to him again. This time, he had really crushed her. If she ever spoke to him again, it would be cruel and foul words.

As he walked, his own words had stung. He had never thought Sakura was fat, ugly, or had a big forehead. In truth, he had always found her attractive. But once Itachi had destroyed the clan, he had learned to hate - that hate was the key to living and growing stronger. And because of that, he had forgotten what it was like to feel other feelings. Going so long without being able to recognize other emotions had turned him into a cold, heartless robot that lived and survived only to avenge his murdered family.

What a pathetic reason to live.

Sasuke used the back trails to get to Sakura's room. She shared one with Deidara, so all he had to do was find the room again.

As he walked, Sasuke thought about what he would say and do. _I'm sorry I crushed you Sakura. It's just, I don't have any concept of other feelings, and that's the closest I can get to love. _Now _that _was pathetic.

_Looks like I live on pathetic. _Sasuke thought as he approached Sakura's door. He knocked gently, entered. The shower was on, so Sasuke guessed Sakura hadn't heard him enter. Almost without thinking, he sat down on the bed opposite the bathroom and waited.

It wasn't long before the sound of running water stopped. Sasuke stood, waiting. He had been thinking about what to say for a while now, and still he had nothing. _Guess I'll have to act on impulse, _He thought to himself. He stood there cooly, waiting for Sakura to emerge.

Eventually, she did, covered in only her towel. She stood there in the doorway of the bathroom, and he stood there by her bed. All was quiet for a moment before Sakura said, "Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke just shrugged. He himself was unsure of his motives. "I wanted to appologize." The words slipped out of his mouth.

"Apologize?" Sakura repeated, surprised.

Sasuke nodded. "I'm sorry." He said entirely.

"Why'd you say it, then?" Sakura snapped back as she folded her arms. "Why should I believe - or accept - your appology?"'

Sasuke stepped forward, she stepped back, fingers on the scar. Sasuke had to use a conscious effort to keep from smirking. "Does it still hurt?" he asked instead.

Sakura shook her head feverishly, pointed to the door with her free hand. "Sasuke, get out." It seemed to hurt more when she spoke. A wave of guilt rushed over Sasuke, but he didn't show it. He stood there, watching her, and unsure of what to do. He was frozen to the spot by his thoughts. He didn't want to leave - he hadn't finished explaining to her. But how would he explain? Actions were greater then words...

Sasuke advanced on Sakura again - she backed up until she hit the wall of the bathroom. She plopped onto the floor, gulping as Sasuke approached. He bent down to her, toyed with a lock of her hair. She panted slightly in nervousness. Sasuke leaned in close and closer to her face until...

Their lips met. Sakura immediately closed her eyes. Sasuke begged her to open her mouth, and she did. Oh, the wonderful taste of her mouth he had fantacised about for so long...If this moment were to end, it would be too soon. She tasted of the sweetest strawberries, covered in sugar. He yearned for more, leaned up against her. She tasted so good...

She seemed to be enjoying it, too. She forgot about any pain in her cheek and gently touchedhim, using the tips of her fingers. It made him want more...

Slowly, he realized, Sakura was removing his clothes. He helped her, quickly taking off the Akatsuki uniform. In a second, his clothes were completely off. He backed off Sakura, let her breathe. She looked at him as she held the two meeting edges of the towel, then slowly opened it.

Gold! He had found gold in Sakura. Sasuke plunged onto those luscious lips again, and brought his fingers down, placed one, then two, three, then four...

Sakura shuddered at both his entrance and the individual movement of his fingers. She wrapped her arms around him, needfully clawing his back. Sasuke took his fingers back, tasted them. They were good...Like candy. Sasuke gave Sakura a taste. It seemed this was just what she needed.

Sasuke took his hand back, used both to caress her as he slowly entered. She moaned, turned her head to the side. Excited by her reaction, Sasuke slammed into her when he hit a barrier. She almost cried out, but he stopped her with a kiss. She began to vibrate all around him and he knew - somehow - that eventually she would reach her limit. He let her up for air.

"S-sasuke," she managed, "I...hate you." She cried out when he slammed into her again. He kept slamming into her, over and over again. Why? Because it felt good. Sakura's reaction only confirmed what he was doing was good. He started to pull back, she arched up. Sasuke punished Sakura by adding his fingers to her. She moaned as they wriggled in.

Sasuke pulled out of her entirely and let her taste him. He let out a few giggles at the feeling. Sakura smiled, crawled back up to Sasuke, and cuddled with him. She quickly fell asleep.

Carefully, Sasuke dressed Sakura and himself, then moved her to her bed (or, the one he _thought _was hers) and dressed himself. He gave Sakura a final kiss, and departed.

* * *

**A/n**

**Yay SakuSasu! Chapter 10: Sasori vs Sakura: The puppeteer vs the healer!**


	10. Chapter 10: Sasori vs Sakura

**Chapter 10: Sasori vs. Sakura: the Puppeteer vs. The Healer!**

Sakura was awoken a few hours later by Deidara. He was sitting over her, his hand on her arm, gently shaking her and calling her name. Funny, she had dreamed it was Sasuke as he pushed farther into her...

"Sakura-chan! _Get up _already! You want to train a little before you match with Master Sasori, don't you?" That was when she opened her eyes, rubbed one and sat up. "Damn you're a heavy sleeper, un." Deidara said to her as she sat up.

"Deidara-kun, how long have I slept?"

" 'Bout three hours."

"And how long until the match?"

" 'Bout...nine hours."

"When did we get up this morning?!"

"Five."

"Oh, okay then." She calmed - she still had plenty of time to prepare for the battle. "Will you help me practice?" She had to find _something _that would get her mind off the leftover feelings...Aside from that, Deidara and the rest must not know - she didn't know what she'd do if they found out. Besides, she was supposed to be forming a relationship with Deidara, not fucking Sasuke.

" 'Course I will, un. You're my student - I'm inclined to."

Sakura smiled, nodded. "Arigato, Deidara-kun. Let's go eat first - I need the energy."

The two of them ate their breakfast at the table, where everyone else was present. Sakura cooked a small meal for every and was finally able to sit down when the other members were eating. On Deidara's left side was Sasori, and on the right was where she sat. Directly across the table was Itachi and Gaara, and on Itachi's free side was Sasuke, then Naruto. What a cute little click they had formed...

Sakura nervously looked past Deidara and to Sasori. She shuddered and shoved a forkful of food into her mouth when the puppeteer looked over and caught her eye. He smirked, held up a little puppet of herself, and stabbed it through the stomach with a needle. Cold rushed over her, and she turned away.

She turned her attention to the Uchiha brothers. Sasuke was looking irritable again...Was it because of Itachi? Sakura assumed so - he probably still felt incredible hatred to his aniki. At least he still had some sort of family left...

Sakura silently took another bite and turned to Itachi instead. The impassive Uchiha ate with his eyes closed, seeming to be deep in thought. He slowly chewed, slowly everything. Sakura wondered what he was thinking briefly, then turned to Naruto. The Kyuubi-holder looked tired, but alert. She then turned to Gaara, who had been acting quiet sane since she'd seen him last. He was slowly eating as well, but his eyes were constantly moving and alert. Deidara seemed tense as well. And, now that she thought about it, she received a tense hush that had smothered the Akatsuki. She began to voice her thoughts, but was shushed to silence by Deidara.

_Why does it seemed that I'm the only one left ignorant to this? _Sakura thought to herself. _Had I missed something during the meeting? _She thought back to it, shook her head. She hadn't recalled anything else being said...

Deidara stood, motioned for her to follow. She stood wordlessly, followed after him.

He brought her to the training ground that was located at the center of the mountain. There was a lake on the left that took up a quarter of the grounds. Another quarter across from the lake was a forest, and the two free quarters were meadow. And, surprisingly, this all grew on its own. Sakura loved the peace and tranquility of the place, and from it, she felt her Chakra strengthening. That always happened when she was around peaceful nature.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura continued to the middle of the grounds, sat down, and began her Chakra molding. She felt Deidara sit across from her, and tried to keep her Chakra together when he said, "Aren't you gonna work on something, un?"

"My specialty is Chakra, Dei, and so I'm working on it." She was slipping into her own world again, her Chakra following her as she instructed it to. She felt herself falling, falling, until a wave of dizziness rushed over her. She ignored it, and eventually she was in a deep state of meditation, completely in turn with the nature all around her. Not a thought flickered through her mind. She suddenly felt very dizzy again, and she fell over. She had reached her limit already. Which was somewhat of a good thing. With Chakra, you're supposed to be fast when meditating. The quicker you reach your limit, the better.

Sakura pushed a little further, then opened her eyes and sat up. The dizziness threatened to take her, but it faded away quickly. She looked to where Deidara had been. He wasn't there.

She looked over to the lake when she heard the water break and a gulp of air following. She removed her clothes so that only her underclothes were on and walked onto the lake. She bent down to him, smiled. "Wouldn't a Stone Villager sink?" She asked playfully.

Deidara smirked. "And a Leaf Villager can float. I got it, un." He jumped up, tackled her into the water.

She laughed as she resurfaced and said, "I really shouldn't be swimming right now."

"Whaddaya gonna do, mold Chakra all day, un?"

"Well, yeah, since I have to practice..."

She was silenced when Deidara pulled her in for a kiss. He let her up and said, "You're the best Chakra molder I've ever seen, un. I wouldn't worry about the match tonight if I were you."

The two of them exited the water and laid down on the beach together. Sakura cuddled up against Deidara, he let her use his arm as a pillow and looked up to the sky. All was quiet for a moment, before Sakura blurted out, "Dei, what do you think about us?"

Deidara looked over to her. "What do you mean? I thought you didn't want anything serious, un."

"_You _said that - I agreed. Besides, I don't." She turned away defensively, whispering, "But I like you."

It wasn't meant to be heard, but it was. Deidara sat up. "I don't like serious because it's always taken from me." He looked to her.

Sakura was upright by now. "But isn't it time to move on? I don't like admitting it, but I lost my father when the Kyuubi attacked - I never got to know him. But I moved on. How do you think it feels to be teamed up with the man holding the demon that killed your father in his stomach? It's not easy, knowing he's the reason I never got to meet my father."

"It's different when those you once loved were killed right under your nose and you were blamed for it, this being outcasted by the village you once loved, un."

"But that won't happen again!" She said as she threw her fists down. "Why are you letting it hold you back?"

"I'm not." Deidara denied as he looked away from her gaze.

"Deidara, what do you think about me?"

Deidara looked out to the lake. He was silent for a while, before he answered, "You're very special to me. You're cute. You're the only person I've ever know that doesn't criticize me about my passion." He was silent again, then stood and turned his back to her. He collected his clothes and put them on. As he left her, he called over his shoulder, "I can't answer your question, un." With that, he left her.

Sakura stared at the doorway where he had left her. Hurt, she turned back to the lake and hugged her legs close to her. If Deidara wasn't interested, why couldn't he just say something? _Why must men always jump around in circles? _She thought to herself. _They're more complicated then women, and I thought we were pretty bad. No matter. In this match against Sasori, I will prove to everyone of the Akatsuki how strong I am. Especially Deidara and Sasuke. I _will _surpass them! _She heard her inner self shout _Hell yeah! _Charged, Sakura ran through her drills one more time.

* * *

Sunset had not come soon enough. She had trained for most of the day, then rested in the mini forest for the rest of her remaining time. She felt her Chakra levels higher then they'd ever been when the battle gong had gone off. Opening her eyes, Sakura left the training grounds at the second gong. 

She was a shred late - the Akatsuki were mumbling in low voices. There was no night illusion - only light. She knew why she was up against, and so there was no reason for her to be blinded by the illusion. The odd, monster-like Sasori stared back at her. He was a puppet master, so was this really his true form? _I've never been a good fighter, _She thought, _so what to do? Should I attack first as a test, of should I wait for him to move? _She fell into her stance, waiting.

There was a long pause as both waited for their opponent to attack. "I don't like waiting or making people wait," Sasori broke the silence. Sakura waited still, and he continued, "Very well, then. I'll make the first move!" Sasori's hands ejected short tubes that shot out and sprayed a gass in her direction. A puple cloud that engulfed her...

_Poison gas! _she thought to herself as she ran through it, holding her breath, and closer to Sasori. By the time she had emerged, the capillaries in her eyes had burst. Seemingly crying blood, Sakura jumped away from Sasori's tail as he squng it in her direction. Rubbing her eyes as she jumped, Sakura thought, _All his weapons have poison on them! And now, I can hardly see. What should I do? I can't keep dodging...But, that puppet shell. How can I get to the real Sasori? _Sakura forced her eyes open. Her vision was horribly foggy - there's no way she'd be able to beat Sasori if she could hardly see him.

She flew in the air to Sasori's back and threw her leg down as Sasuke had once done. She felt the shell crack a bit, but it remained intact. Sakura quickly used the shell to bounce away from Sasori.

_This is bad, _she thought to herself, _One of my strongest kicks, and my leg cracked more then that shell did. Also, forcing myself to run through the poison gas without breathing burst the capillaries in my eyes. What to do? _She asked herself again. Then, an idea struck her. She quickly acted upon it.

Sakura made a shadow copy of herself and had both of them hop in different directions. _Hopefully this will crack the shell, _she thought as she confronted Sasori.

* * *

_**(Naruto)**_

He was getting excited. He was sitting between Sasuke (who was on his left) and Deidara (who was on his right,) and his eyes had gone blood red and slanted. He felt his teeth sharpen as well, but that wasn't as visible to the others. Sasuke had activated his Sharingan and Deidara was gripping the protective poles as though his life depended on it. When a loud crack was heard after Sakura had attacked Sasori, he nearly pulled himself out of his chair and said, "She cracked the shell!"

Naruto nodded, his heart racing. "Think she can do it? I do."

Deidara shook his head, "She's need a powerful ally - Master Sasori has more then on trick up his sleeve, un."

"She can hardly see," Sasuke observed. "Forcing himself to run through the poison gas like that..." He looked over to Naruto. "Naruto! Calm down!"

Naruto looked over to him, oblivious. "Hmm?"

"_Calm down. _It'll break if you don't."

Itachi, who was on Sasuke's left, repeated, "Break?"

Sasuke looked over and held the curse seal, which was tingling. "Nothing," he gruffed as he attempted to hide the seal from his aniki.

Itachi grabbed his otouto's hand and revealed the curse seal, which was glowing a little. Itachi dropped Sasuke's hand in what seemed like contempt. "You play into pain," he said simply. Sasuke gave no answer.

Turning back to the battle, Naruto noticed Sakura had used a Shadow Replication. One was in front of Sasori, and the other behind. The one in front distracted Sasori whilst the one in the back tried to find the shell's weakness. Eventually it was found, and both Sakuras attacked that point. Sasori froze, and broke.

"She broke the shell, un!" Deidara shouted.

Pride for Sakura rushed through Naruto. He smirked and said, "No teammate of _mine _ever looses."

Panting, both Sakuras jumped back and waited. The Shadow Replication dissapeared, and there only the true Sakura left. She was tired and winded, but a look of victory rushed through her.

Sasori stood. He, too, was wearing the Akatsuki cloak in which his puppet had been dressed. His spiky red hair reminded her of Gaara. He had a doll-like face, and his eyes were the only part of it that harbored any emotion. Those grey eyes...They almost seemed lifeless as well, but there was the tinniest suggestion that that - if anything else on him wasn't - we the only lifelike part of him. They captured and analyzed her within the irises, not giving away anything he was planning or thinking. He moved his fingers just a hair, and the head to the puppet-shell jumped up, spun. From the neck, blade-sharp needles rained down.

Gasping, Sakura erected a Chakra shield, held it tight. The needles fell down onto the shield, cascaded off it and safely away from her, buried into the ground. She let the shield fade away. She jumped up, whirled her leg around, and made contact with the head, which broke at the impact of her foot.

"Go Sakura!" Naruto whispered.

Sasori smirked. "If you think it's going to be this easy the whole time, you're teribly mistaken." Sakura didn't seem surprised. "You're going to see a puppet I made twenty years ago. He didn't die easily, but he's still my most prized possession." He completed a scroll, and in its place came another puppet. This one, in human shape, had blue spiky hair and bright yellow eyes. Sakura gulped.

From up above, Gaara's eyes widened. "The third Kazekage?" He asked in disbelief.

"Who?" Naruto asked, looking past the Uchihas.

"The third Kazekage was the Sand Village's greatest Kazekage, but he went missing twenty years ago. Distressed, the Sand Village looked everywhere for him. By doing so, our enemies were able to sneak in and plunge us into chaos. We were never able to find him. Even now, they search for him, but not a single clue was ever found. But now I see. Sasori took the Kazekage and defeated him, and made him into a puppet. That's why we couldn't ever find a single trace of him." Naruto studied the Sand nin for a moment, then turned back to the battle.

Sasori's Kazekage-puppet opened one of its hands, which ejected poison gas towards her. Again, she was caught in the toxic fumes.

For a second, there was no response from Sakura. But then, you could see her running _away _from Sasori. Her eyes were bleeding again, along with her nose. She ignored it and continued running away.

Before the cloud cleared, a shadow clone of Sakura had snuck behind Sasori and hit him where he could be instantly paralyzed whilst shouting, "Hell yeah!" Sasori skid forward at the impact of her punch. In a burst of pride, she approached Sasori, made to taunt him. "Can't move, can you?" He answered by standing, towering over her. She gasped, took a step back. "H-how...? Why aren't you...?"

"Paralyzed?" he finished for her with a smirk. He removed his Akatsuki cloak, so that all he wore were his pants. Sakura gasped, backed up again. Sasori was a puppet! He had a sort of tube thing sticking out of where his heart should've been. The veins surrounding it were large and pulsating. He had metallic blades connected to his back that resembled wings. They were razor sharp, each part of the wing dripping poison. "I'm a puppet, Sakura. I changed myself long ago. I feel no pain, and I am not challenged by mortality. As long as I'm not killed, I will live forever."

Sakura clenched her fists. "You won't be able to say that any longer! This is your last day on this planet, I promise you!"

"Oh really?" Another Sasori whispered from behind as he ran the tip of a katana through her. She yelled out, but tried to forced the pain away. That was when her Shadow Replication came in and punched the real Sasori's heart out. Sasori stood for a moment, looking at her, before he broke into seperate pieces, none of which showed any signs of life. Sakura coughed up blood, but forced herself to heal some of the wound.

_Healing around the katana whilst it's still inside her? _The actual Sasori thought with a smirk as he twisted the katana and slowly dug it in further. _She's strong. _

Coughing up blood, she held onto the katana when Sasori tried to push it in all the way through her. His childlike face was one of confusion. He tried to pull it back, but she held it steady and said simply, "I'm not letting go."

"I admire you," Sasori told her, "but the blade of my katana was dipped in poison. You'll die shortly." Sakura's eyes widened. She clamped them shut and attempted to removed the katana, but she was so weak and cold...

Up above, both Naruto and Sasuke were standing, gripping the bar, leaning over a bit. When Sasori had stabbed his katana through Sakura, both Naruto and Sasuke stood and shouted her name. Naruto, when Sakura held onto the sword, jumped over the ledge. But he was stopped suddenly, and floated back. "Don't interfere." The Leader's voice told him, his body now leaning up against the bars. He allowed his face to come into view. He had spiky red hair and red eyes. His pale face was covered with piercings. Naruto's eyes widened. Leader looked fierce. "It's just starting."

Both Naruto and Sasuke were forced back into their seats by some sort of jutsu. Both stared at the man who began the Akatsuki. Leader looked back to the fight.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered in his ear, "What do we do? Should we use it?"

Naruto looked down to a dying Sakura, who was standing only because of Sasori. He scowled, offered Sasuke his hand from behind his back. The two of them formed the seal they had made and practiced since they were teammed together with Sakura. It was a protection jutsu, in which both sent their mixed Chakra to her. It nearly killed both of them - giving her nearly al over their Chakra - but in dire situations, all options had to be tried. The jutsu suppressed their Chakra to where it was invisible and undetectable.

The Chakra strand slowly began its way to Sakura, but again their attempts were thwarted by a wave of Leader's hand. "Don't make have to use force." He seemed completely uninterested in them. He hadn't even looked their way.

Sasuke swore under his breath. "We have to get to Sakura - she doesn't have much time left."

"But what do we do?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know. The Akatsuki leader is both intelligent and strong. How can we outsmart him?"

"Shadow Replications?"

Sasuke thought, shook his head. "We don't have much Chakra anymore. Maybe the both of us combined can overpower him?"

"No, the others will attack is we try anything like that."

"Then maybe we can just ignore him and jump past?"

"How about we teleport down?"

"We hardly have enough energy left to move." From beside him, Itachi heaved a heavy sigh. Sasuke looked over to him. "Aniki?"

He spoke to Leader. "If you let Sasori kill her, we loose a considerable amout of strength. We loose a healer. Are you going to let that happen?" Leader looked over to Itachi, scowled. There was a pause, until he left.

"Thank you, nii-san!" Sasuke said as he and Naruto jumped down to her. Sasuke pushed Sasori off the katana, spread his arms out wide. Naruto jumped down to Sakura, who collapsed to her knees at his arrival. Sasuke turned his head back to the two of them. "How is she?"

"Not good!" Naruto shouted as she coughed up blood. He was panicking. "Sakura!" She was coughing pretty badly. "Let me pull this out, Sakura-chan, and you'll be alright..." Sakura cried out as Naruto slowly began to remove the katana.

"Naruto," a weak voice, followed by a watery cough. "I'm so cold...I lost, didn't I?" She asked the question with a weak smile.

"No! You won, Sakura-chan! You won! Now, just bear with me, okay? You're going to be just fine. A valliant member of the Akatsuki. Don't leave me, okay? Hang in there!"

"Father? Third? I see them all..."

"Don't go, Sakura-chan! Stay with me and Sasuke! We still need you here!"

In a fit of rage and excitement, Sasuke turned back and stared into the lifeless eyes of Sasori. He had gotten to angry, his Sharingan had gone Magekyou. They stung, but he used them on Sasori. The puppeteer slowly fell, fell into his hypnotic trance...

_It was just like Itachi's relm, only here, Sasuke was in control. He angrily sent both Chakra bugs and termites to Sasori, and made it so that his puppet body could actually feel like a normal one. Slowly, his bugs began the process of eating him. "You shouldn't have done that to Sakura," Sasuke's voice was somehow louder then Sasori's screams. "How do you cause a puppet pain? Let bugs eat it from the inside out." He left Sasori there for twenty-four hours - he couldn't withstand as long as Itachi. _

Sasori screamed out in the real world, collapsed, unconscious. This was when both Deidara and Itachi came down from above. Deidara was holding Sasori, as hysterical as Naruto was with Sakura. Itachi's unforgiving Sharingan-bearing eyes stared down at Sasuke. But he was hardly aware of what he sense were telling him. The voices of Deidara and Naruto were muted, as though he was underwater. Itachi was multiple, and about five were spinning over him, over lapping each other.

Sick from all the different sensations, Sasuke turned to the left, held his stomach in his right arm, and threw up. This was pme pf the reasons why he hated using Magekyou. But, he had only used it because he was angry. His emotions had gotten the better of him again. He had to fight to stay on his feet - everything around him was chaos for his sense. He felt his consciousness wavering. The last thing he saw was his aniki's Sharingan-bearing eyes.

* * *

**A/n**

**Chapter 11: Aniki and Otouto: Big Brother and Little Brother. **


	11. Chapter 11: Aniki and Otouto

**Chapter 11: Aniki and Otouto: Big Brother and Little Brother**

Sasuke collapsed. Itachi caught him before he hit the ground. Sasuke's Sharingan had fadded away, and Sasori had collapsed after looking into his eyes. Had Sasuke found a way to activate Mangekyou without killing his best friend? He _had _killed Orochimaru when he had tried to take his body. Had that been enough to get him to Mangekyou? Orochimaru _had _been Sasuke's sensei for two years, before he tried to take Sasuke's body. So, when Sasuke killed Orochimaru, he had been able to activate Mangekyou. Impressive.

Deidara and Naruto were hysterical, Sasori was unconscious but alive, and Sakura was near death.Itachi held up his hand, and both Naruto and Deidara fell silent. Itachi, still holding his otouto, bent down to Sakura and crudely pulled the katana out of her. Although unconscious, she cried out in protest. Rolling his eyes, Itachi bent down close to the wound, covered it with his hand. Unwillingly, he sent his Chakra to the wound, which quickly closed.

Itachi stood and motioned for Naruto to follow with Sakura and Deidara with Sasori. They brought the three unconscious Akatsuki members to the hospital wing Sakura had been given and laid them on the three empty beds. First, Deidara rested Sasori by the far wall. Then Naruto laid Sakura to Sasori's left, and finally, Itachi dropped Sasuke on Sakura's left.

"What happened to Master Sasori, un?" Deidara asked, approaching the two of them. "He stared at Master Sasuke and screamed and then...he just collapsed."

"He's unconscious." Itachi said simply.

"And Sakura? Will she be okay?" Naruto added.

"A few days recovery will do her good."

"What happened between Sasuke and Sasori, anyway?" Naruto asked another question, which was soon beginning to annoy Itachi.

Instead of showing the irritation, Itachi pulled up a chair and sat beside his otouto and answered, "Sasuke activated Mangekyou." Itachi grew tired of answering questions after this. He waved them away, and they left. Not without an angry argument from Naruto, of course, but Deidara managed to pull Naruto out of the room.

Itachi looked down to Sasuke. He had always been fond of his otouto, which was one of the reasons why he had spared him. Sasuke had always shown great potential, as well. He was strong in his own way, but he had always possessed that same burning passion to grow stronger like Itachi. Sasuke had killed a sanin. Something Itachi had _almost _done. Itachi gave his brother credit for that.

_Just like you said, I've hated you, detested you. _Sasuke's voice drifted into his mind. _And just to defeat you, I've...survived! _He had yelled that as he revealed Orochimaru's curse seal. Sasuke _was _strong, but the difference between he and Itachi had not abridged since then. Sasuke had grown stronger, and so had Itachi. They were rather like Yin and Yang.

_He'd do it to kill you, _this time, Sakura's voice drifted through. _He'd sacrifice his own life to kill you. You're what's kept him alive and fighting all these years. If you hadn't destroyed the clan, Sasuke would've given up long ago. His only purpose to live it you. _

Next came his own voice, from when he had spoken to Sasuke before the murder of the clan. _It's just that we're unique siblings. I'm the barrier you must overcome, and so we continue to exist together. Even if you hate me. _And Sasuke was the reason he kept himself alive - aside from the plains of the Akatsuki. But in reality, neither of them had any reason to live if not for their brother.

Itachi chuckled at this thought, kicked his legs up onto the bed, pushed the chair back onto its back feet. Itachi put his hands behind his head, looked up to the ceiling. They _were _very unique siblings. They lived to outdo one another, but as one grew stronger, so had the other. And so there was no way either could kill the other. Itachi had noticed this long ago, when Sasuke was a child. Which was the reason he couldn't kill Sasuke. He had told himself all these years he had hid behind telling Sasuke he wasn't worth killing, that Sasuke was his greatest challenge. He lived on hate, thrived on it to kill those around him. But would he ever have the hate to kill his otouto? He seriously doubted that.

Itachi sat there for hours, watching the three of them. But he didn't get up from his seat or remove himself from his deep thoughts. Sasuke had woken up, but passed out again at the sight of Itachi's eyes. Itachi smirked at that. _Recalling that night at the sight of my eyes, are we? _He almost called his otouto pathetic for that, but something stopped him. When he thought it, he almost felt something. Was it wrong for thinking it? But why would it be? _Hmm, puzzling..._Itachi thought to himself. His eyes widened when he thought, _Could it be you have a soft spot for you little brother? Get a hold of yourself, Itachi! You kill all who oppose you - why is Sasuke any different? _

_Because he's always been different, _a voice told him, which only confused him more. Looks like he had more to think about.

Naruto came in shortly and silently paid his respects to his teammates. He looked down to Sasuke for a while, clenching his fists, until he broke the silence and asked, "Why'd he pass out when he used Mangekyou?"

Itachi closed his eyes. _The animal's got a mind of one, _he thought bitterly, before answering, "Mangekyou takes a lot out of you, and Sasuke didn't have enough Chakra to use it efficiently. He just needs time to rest." He opened his eyes again.

Just then, Sasuke's eyes opened. He slowly sat up, rubbed them. He looked to his left, then his right. "Is Sakura alright?" he asked, noting how she was curled up and coughing every now and again. She looked to be shivering...

Sasuke took the blanket from his bed and laid it over Sakura, who stopped shivering almost instantly and whispered, "Sasuke?" in her sleep. _Why do people always give up what they have for others? _Itachi asked himself. The concept never made sense to him. What's the point, when you need it too?

Sasuke, in response, laid his hand on her shoulder gently. "It's okay, Sakura. I'm here. You fought well, Sakura. I'm proud of you." Sasuke was echoing words he never heard from his family, Itachi knew. One reason why he shouldn't hate him for killing them all...Sakura seemed to relax at the sound of his voice. Bending close to her ear, Sasuke whispered something he thought Naruto and Itachi couldn't hear. Naruto, naturally, couldn't, but Itachi, with his advanced hearing, could. "I love you." was what he whispered. Something else he had never heard from his family. _How sentimental you are, otouto..._Sakura moved her thumb up to her mouth, holding it in a way that looking as though she was sucking her thumb. Sasuke turned back to Naruto and Itachi, rubbing his left eye. "What do we do?" He seemed no have no direction for the question.

"We wait." Itachi answered. "Sasori should be waking soon enough. Sakura will probably be bed-ridden for the next few days. She'll need someone to monitor her almost constantly." He continued to stare up at the ceiling, more thinking about the odd relationship with Sasuke then what he was saying. He was smart enough to think on more then one conscious plane, and so this was common.

"Nii-san," Sasuke began, which stunned Itachi into looking down at his otouto, paying him all his attention. "what _exactly _happened? After Naruto and I jumped down to Sakura?"

Itachi looked back up to the ceiling. "You achieved Mangekyou."

He felt an air of remembrance cascade off Sasuke. Itachi looked back down to Sasuke, who grunted and grabbed his head. Mangekyou was tricky to overcome - sometimes, if you weren't careful, you'd damage your own mind. Since Sasuke had only used it once before, he wasn't used to the pains it could cause. Also, if you were trapped in Mangekyou before, you were more susceptible to it from your own mind. And whenever you used it, you would see flashes from when you were trapped in the hypnotic jutsu. It was really horrible if you weren't careful. Through gritted teeth, Sasuke spoke. "How do you stand it, Aniki? The effects Mangekyou brings?"

"I was not exposed to how the Mangekyou works when I first used it - on you. You were, though, so of course it'll bring back memories of being trapped in it. And you're weak." He just _had _to give that little jab to Sasuke's pride, as he always had.

Sasuke ignored the end comment. "I didn't even _want _to use it - it just came."

"Emotions," Itachi began as he looked to the ceiling again, "get in the way."

Sakura lapsed into a fit of coughing, in which blood came up. _My senses are deluded, _Itachi thought to himself. _Or are they stronger? I can smell blood, know when it's blood...Can taste normal things, touch normal things, but both smell and hearing are advanced...I can smell others from a mile away, can hear their footsteps even in the deepest slumber...Being a ninja does this to you, doesn't it? _He almost hated himself there, and he hardly ever experienced hate towards himself. Sakura threw up. "Her left lung was punctured badly," Itachi told Sasuke. "She's breathing off one lung right now." He could hear Sasuke as he cleaned her up, removed her blankets, switched them with his own...

Sakura moaned. "Sasuke...?" Itachi looked to her and his brother. Sakura managed to sit up and open her eyes. The first thing she saw was Sasuke, and she fell into a fit of coughing again. She fell onto Sasuke, limply threw her arms around him, buried her face into his neck. "Sasuke, I'm cold again..." She whispered in his ear. _Thanks enhanced hearing, _Itachi thought to himself with a deep frown. Why was he hating himself so much right now?

Sasuke backed off her a bit, noting a warm, sticky substance on him. He looked to where the katana had run through her. She was hemorrhaging. Panicking, Sasuke laid her down again, held his hand over the reopened wound. "Sakura, stay with me, okay?"

Naruto rushed to help him. "Sakura-chan! Don't go, Sakura-chan! Stay here!" Naruto was more panicked then Sasuke was. "What do we do?!"

"What if we use _that_?" Itachi rolled his eyes. _They're both prepared to kill themselves over that whelp, aren't they? Why do people sacrifice themselves like that? In the end, there's only one who suffers. Why even bother when you're going to be hurt no matter what you do? _

Naruto calmed. "It'll kill us."

"If she was dead. But she'd not, so it'll only take most of our Chakra. So should we?" _They're actually going to...? _Itachi looked to them.

Naruto bit his lip until it bled, put his hand over Sasuke's. They formed the seal for their jutsu, but Itachi stopped them when he appeared suddenly between them. "Such mediocre jutsus," he began calmly, "will do nothing but kill you." Was he really going to help this girl, who plainly didn't deserve life? Was he going to save someone that was so weak? The answer came to him immediately, and he almost felt like slitting his throat. _Of course you are. Because she reminds you of Sasuke. _Inwardly scowling, Itachi removed both Naruto and Sasuke's hands from the wound, bent down close to it himself. He opened his mouth, and skin from Sakura's wound flew up to it, burning. It burned before it hit his mouth, and suddenly, Sakura's wound glowed a bright scarlet. Itachi coughed almost as bad as Sakura had been and backed off her. He hated using that jutsu - it forced him to actually swallow the bad skin cells, which made him sick later on. He turned his back to the Kyuubi holder and his otouto and said to them through coughs, "That heals the flesh wound. But it's liable to break again." _But if it does, _Itachi thought to himself, _I'm not going to kill myself over some whelp that doesn't deserve to live. _

Sakura broke into a new fit of coughing, this time rolling over to the edge of the bed and throwing up blood. Sasuke sat beside her on the bed, held her. By now, Itachi was back in his chair and watching them as though they were worth his time. Why was he feeling such contempt right now? Softly, Sakura whispered, "Father, don't leave me again..." she wrapped her arms around Sasuke again, buried her face in his neck again. The touch of his skin against hers must've brought some part of her back, because she whispered, "Sasuke, I failed..."

"No, Sakura! You won! You did it!"

"But Sasori..."

"You beat him, Sakura!" Why was Sasuke bothering to instill fake victory within her? The Akatsuki Leader wouldn't let her in - she had lost the moment she was stabbed, let alone Sasuke and Naruto coming to her aid.

"I beat him...?"

"Yes! You're an Akatsuki now." No, she would never be allowed to become an Akatsuki.

"Akatsuki..."

"Uh huh."

"You and Naruto and Deidara and Itachi..." _Why mention me, whelp? _And that was when Itachi knew. This girl...He was jealous. She had wormed her way through the Akatsuki so easily, whereas he had worked up. Although he was the prodigy of the family, it had always been hard seeing his father criticizing Sasuke and comparing him to Itachi. _This _girl had done nothing, lost nothing in her life, and yet here she was, at the same fucking rank he was. That had to have been why he wanted nothing to do with her when she first showed up - he had kidnapped her before, he knew how weak she was. And he was jealous with her making it all the way up, by doing nothing, by sacrificing nothing. The bitch.

"Yup."

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." With that, she passed out cold. Sasuke gently laid her back down on her bed, tucking her in a little. Itachi's eyes narrowed. He had never felt hate this strong for someone since his father. And he killed those he hated.

Or, at least, ruined their life.

Itachi smirked. _That can be easily arranged..._And he thought of everything he could do to utterly ruin her life.

There was a sound of clicking wood, and Sasori walked by, pulling on his Akatsuki cloak. He opened the door, and met Deidara. "Ohiyo, Master Sasori!" Sasori nodded, stepped by Deidara. Deidara spoke to the rest of them, "Leader's olding a meeting reguarding Sakura's battle with Sasori in fifteen minutes, un." He noticed how she was coughing and asked, "Not doing very well, is she, un?" Itachi smiled, remembering how he had ruined Deidara's life. He always got his way...

Sasuke shook his head, looked down to her. "She was almost up before, but started hemorrhaging." Sakura broke into a fit of coughing, which brought up more blood. "And that. She keeps coughing. Something about a puncture in her left lung, where that guy - "

"Sasori."

" - Sasori stabbed her. She's healing slowly, but she _is _healing."

"You have my condolences as he sensei, un. But, we should be going now. She'll be find." Sasuke nodded, and that was when Itachi knew what he was going to do. How better to completely change Sasuke then to train him? _Little brother always wanted me to train him..._Itachi thought to himself. _And if I train him, I can slowly alter his personality, to where he's crueler to Sakura, thus splitting her heart. _He was a genius, and he always got his way. Itachi stood and followed Naruto and Sasuke as they left to the meeting table.

The four of them sat at their usual end of the table - Naruto directly in front of Gaara, with Deidara on his right; Itachi on Gaara's left, and Sasuke beside his Aniki. Before the meeting began, Itachi turned to his otouto a little and called his name. Sasuke looked up to him, and Itachi finished, "How would you like to train with me and Gaara?" He had to use a conscious effort to keep from smirking. Chibi Sasuke inside was bouncing with joy at the proposal. But Sasuke now kept calm and simply nodded, using the cuff of his cloak to hide his smile. Itachi smirked as he looked away. Aniki always gets what he wanted - and he wants that bitch Sakura to die.

Leader, at the far end of the table, standing, as usual, was hidden in the shadows. It seemed nothing was out of place. Leader cleared his throat, began, "The battle with Sasori versus Sakura was relatively short. Quickly recapping, Sakura managed to pry Sasori out of his shell, who then brought out a puppet _and _himself, yada yada yda...Sasori stabbed her in the back, and Naruto and Sasuke jumped in. I believe, all in all, it was a weak performance from both sides. Also, I'm inclined to believe that Sakura, however powerful, does _not _possess the type of skills we need, as Akatsuki, and should therefore remain a hostage."

Itachi smirked, listened to the murmurs throughout the Akatsuki. Sasuke let his head hand limp, looking at his fingers in his lap. Naruto, however, was fuming the moment he put two and two together. He stood, fists glued to the table, and shouted, "What do you mean Sakura-chan doesn't 'possess the type of skills we need'?!" All eyes turned to him. _Stupid boy, _Itachi thought to himself with the smallest shake of his head. _You're going to get yourself killed faster then we want._

"Shut up, Naruto." Sasuke hissed. "She can always try again." _Wrong again, otouto._ Itachi thought, _Because I'm going to make sure she either fails and stays hostage or fails and is killed. _

Naruto completely ignored the comment. He climbed onto the table, marched up to the Leader, growled, "That Sasori bastard." he viciously pointed to Sasori, "stuck his katana right through her! I _hardly _call that fair!"

Leader remained calm. "Return to your place, or I'll kill you."

That comment didn't phase Naruto in the least. In fact, he _smirked _at the words. "You wouldn't _dare_," he got clodsr to Leader's face with each word he spoke. "You can't kill me! You need the Kyuubi for whatever you're doing, and killing me will destroy the Kyuubi. And you don't want that _do _you?" _Don't you understand, you stupid boy? _Itachi thought to him. _In order to extract the Kyuubi, you die. In the process, you loose your life. What a stupid kid. _

Sasuke, who had been staring at Naruto, nudged Itachi. Itachi broke out of his world, looking down to his otouto. "Aniki, may I instigate now?"

Itachi knew what he was talking about and nodded. "Now would be the best time to ever do so," he agreed.

Sasuke nodded, climbed onto the table. "Naruto," Naruto looked over his shoulder at the sound of his voice. "get away from Leader, will you? You're embarrassing me."

Naruto ran up to Sasuke so that their faces were only inches apart. "And just how are you gonna stop me?" With a blink, Sasuke activated the Sharingan.Naruto threw a punch, Sasuke dodged. Naruto threw out all sorts of attacks, but with his Sharingan, Sasuke was able to predict his movements and dodge Naruto's attacks. Naruto managed to get Sasuke to fall on his back, and Sasuke responded by kicking Naruto up and back to the far wall. _Oh, yes. _Itachi thought to himself. _Sasuke is definitely worth my time...At least, to crush fair little Sakura, that is. _Sasuke stood, dropped his stance, jumped off the table, and walked towards Naruto.

Naruto jumped to his feet, ran to the left. Sasuke calmly waited, anticipating. Naruto activated Rasengan, ran towards Sasuke.

At that moment, Sakura had walked between them. She looked over to a fast-approaching Naruto, gasped. "Move out of the way, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he advanced. _No, pretty Sakura, stay right there, and take Naruto's blow for Sasuke..._"This wasn't meant for you!" She waited until he was about to hit her with it, then grabbed his Rasengan-bearing arm with both hands, turned around with him as he went flying upwards, then threw him back down with all the force she had. The base shook.

_Oooh, pretty Sakura, you're strong, aren't you? I could snap your neck in a second..._

The Rasengan fadded away, and Naruto blinked in surprise. Sakura wrapped her left arm around her stomach, collapsed to her knees, used her free hand to hold her up. _Or better yet, die right there. Finish what Sasori started for you..._Through her coughing, she yelled at Naruto, "Since day one, you've always tried to outdo Sasuke! Why can't...either...of you just accept the fact that you're too evenly matched?!" She broke into a fit of coughing again, then continued, "That's why you both nearly kill yourselves when you fight! And that's why," -She looked up to Sasuke, then over to Itachi-- "that's why you'll never be able to defeat Itachi, Sasuke."

_No, Sakura, you fool. He cannot beat me, and I cannot beat him, because...we're...to evenly matched..._Almost all of Itachi's anger faded away when he realized Sakura was right. Damn, all that anger just because he couldn't figure that out on his own...But geniuses had a tendency to do that.

Sasuke's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he walked over to her, examined the wound. It was bleeding again. Sasuke covered the wound with his hand, closed his eyes. He focoused, and his hand slowly began to glow. _Damn it, why do people always have pity for one another? _Itachi tried to ask Sasuke. _And do I really hate Sakura, or am I just jealous of how easily she made it here? _He cringed at the remembrance, and he knew. She didn't deserve to be an Akatsuki - she had probably never killed a fly before. She wasn't an S-class criminal - she had trained with Tsunade until Gaara had fetched her. She truly didn't deserve to be an Akatsuki member.

The Chakra flow from Sasuke's hand stopped, and Sakura seemed better. Sasuke helped her to her feet, allowed her to lean on him. Sasuke then offered his hand to Naruto, who took it, stunned. Sasuke wiped Naruto's back off a bit, and said to the Kyuubi-holder, "No more, okay? I'm tired of fighting." _Now, otouto, you're thinking the way I do. _Naruto nodded, held Sakura on her free side.

The two of them brought Sakura over to the table, helped her stand. Sakura looked up to Leader expectantly. There was a tense pause before he said to her, "You do not possess the skills and attributes we - as Akatsuki - are looking for."

Sakura, with a darkened face, brushed Sasuke and Naruto off her, and spoke directly to Leader, "Well, then. I'll be going." She turned her back to him, began to walk away. "Tsunade-sama will be very please to hear I've got a detailed description about the Akatsuki, its members, its hideout, and even its leader." She looked over her shoulder and smirked.

"You wouldn't!" Deidara yelled.

"I would." _Not if I have anything to say about it, pretty Sakura. I'll kill you right here, right now, if given the chance. _

There was an uproar from the Akatsuki. Leader silenced them with a simple raise of his hand. "So, you have connections to Tsunade. How so?"

"She's my sensei. Taught me everything I know."

Leader squinted his eyes. "So, if you _do _become a member, will you use your connections against us?"

"I have no reason to do so."

"If we _do _accept you, will you be willing to use your connections to our benefit?"

Sakura raised and eyebrow. "How so?"

"Simple: you life a double life. During the day, you live your normal life in Konoha. At night, you come back to us and relay the information we ask of you. If you cannot return every night, we require you have a good explanation. Everything you learn will be relayed back to us by jutsu anyway, so don't think you'll be able to hide anything or double cross us."

Sakura turned back to him. "My headband's already been slashed. What do I say to _that_?"

Leader smirked. "Tell them Pein was after you, and you were fighting him, and just barely managed to escape. He was after you because you had killed one of his best fighters. Tell them that the Akatsuki is falling apart."

Sakura smirked again, and Itachi wanted to smack her. _That look only works with Uchihas, you bitch..._"Shall I leave now or tomorrow morning?" _Now. Leave now. Go! We don't want you here! _

"That's up to you."

"So then, I'm in, then?"

"Part-time. Remember, though: at the slightest hint of betrayal, I will kill you."

Sakura nodded. "Fair enough."

"Very well." Meeting adjourned." Itachi was the first to stand. He followed Pein to his room. They would have a talk about the usefulness of Haruno Sakura...

_**(Sakura)**_

Sasuke stayed behind with Sakura. He wrapped his arms around her, kissed her passionately on the neck. A sort of pins-and-needles ran down from her neck to her lower half. Sakura moaned, clenching her mouth to stifle it. They went to the kitchen where Sasuke closed the door behind them.

Sasuke turned back to her, took another kiss, this time asking for entrance. She opened her mouth and he gleefully rushed in, exploring every inch of her, as though he had never been inside her mouth before. The two feverishly took off one another's clothes. Both were on their knees now. Sasuke leaned forward, pushing Sakura onto the ground. They used the Akatsuki cloak as a blanket.

As Sasuke kissed Sakura and nibbled on her, Sakura grabbed his member and started pumping. Slowly, along with his heartbeat. He moaned a little as he hardened at her touch. Sakura rolled the both of them over so that she was on top. She crawled down under the confines of the cloak, ordering him not to look.

Sakura stopped just before he truly began and kissed him there. Sasuke threw his head back, pushed his hips up. He felt Sakura smiled as she ran a finger up his length. He cringed as it grew tighter still. Pretty soon, he wouldn't be able to control himself...

But that was when she put him, just barely, in her mouth. He thrust up again, and she nearly choked. She plowed on, regardless. She couldn't take him whole, so she went up as far as she could and pumped the rest. Sasuke moaned again, before calling her name. "Sakura, I...I can't...I have to..." He wouldn't be able to take it much longer - the skin around his member felt as though it was going to split. He was throbbing, and not being in something entirely was annoying him. Sakura's pumping wasn't helping much, either. It just made him want to thrust deep into her more...

Sasuke thrust his thighs upward as sign of complaint. Any second now, and...

Sakura returned to him, allowed him to roll on top of her. He opened her with his fingers and barely, just barely, touched her with his throbbing member. She moaned, closed her eyes. "S-sasuke, why are you teasing me so?"

"That's for teasing me." He answered as he slowly entered, allowing himself to release when he fully entered her. He moaned in relief and collapsed onto Sakura, burying his face between her neck and shoulder. Sakura ran her fingers through his hair, just let them sit there on his scalp. Both were panting in exhausted ecstasy. He could feel Sakura vibrating all around him. "Sakura," he whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too, Sasuke." She rolled her head over to him so that their cheeks were lying on one another's. Sakura changed her mind and maneuvered so that she was lying on her side, facing him, still entwined.

"Sakura, will you help me?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you help me resurrect my clan? Help me create a new generation?"

Sakura held his face in her hands, kissed him deeply, and said, "I've wanted to help you do that for years." She cuddled up against him, mentally thanking him for his warmth.

"So, will you marry me?"

The question hit her hard, although she knew it had been coming. Excitement rushed through her, and she nodded hapilly and shouted, "Yes! Yes! I will marry you!"

Sasuke smiled. "I have nothing to give you, but..." He reached over, grabbed a kunai. He took her left hand, carved the Uchiha symbol in it. He did the same to his left, squeezed both bleeding hands together as one. It felt as though, with every beat of his heart, some of his blood was entering through the wound. Sasuke rolled on top of her. She threw her head back and closed her eyes at the feelings. Sasuke, finally, pulled himself out of her.

After a few minutes, Sakura opened her eyes and looked into his. Sasuke smirked. The blood transfusion had worked. Sakura's normal emerald eyes had been bloodstained. She now held Sharingans over her very own. "But I can give you this." Sasuke finished.

"What is it? Why do I see so differently?"

"I gave you some of my blood, which, in turn, modified your body to something an Uchiha would look like. You have a pair of your very own Sharingan now."

"And yours?"

He activated his Sharingan as a way of telling her. "I'm not loosing anything but blood. You must never tell anyone in Konoha about this, understand?" Sakura nodded slowly. "Use them in battle only if you must. And those who find out - kill them." Sakura nodded, deactivated her Sharingan. Don't ask how she did it - it was almost second nature. "The more you use it, the more experience you earn, the stronger you get. But be careful - if you use it constantly like Itachi, you will go blind."

Sakura nodded, grabbed his member, started pumping. He gasped at the unnexpected feeling, kissed her. When he let her up for ait, she whispered, "And this is my present."


	12. Chapter 12: Blood Ties and Lies

**Chapter 12: Blood Ties and Lies**

The next morning, Sakura fought Itachi so that it would look more like she had been fighting. The stab wound from Sasori was still there, but had stopped ripping itself open. Just when Itachi would've been able to kill her, he stopped and ordered her to leave. With one final look at Naruto, Gaara, Deidara, and Sasuke, she left them.

Itachi had broken her ribs and popped her shoulder blades out of their sockets - she couldn't move her arms, and wouldn't be able to for a while. She was nearly out of Chakra, and had cuts and bruises everywhere. She also had several kunai and shruiken embedded into her. Overall, it looked as though she had been in a terrible battle with a terrible person. And that person was Pein.

As she limped toward Konoha, Sakura contemplated. Itachi had figured out that Sasuke had given her his blood - she had allowed the Sharingans to activate. Itachi was surprised at first, but quickly put two and two together. He was a genius, after all. He didn't say anything to her about it, but she knew he would ask Sasuke. But Itachi was the last person Sasuke would answer to - Itachi would just have to figure everything out on his own.

She was sick, too. Throwing up a lot. She knew what it was, but decided not to tell Sasuke until she returned to the base again in a few days.

Sakura made it to Konoha by noon. She stumbled into the Hokage's room, explained her feint story to Tsunade, who healed her major wounds. Tsunade then ordered her to go home and rest. Tomorrow, her training would pick up again. Sakura agreed and left for her house.

Her mother greeted her happily, and she was forced to retell the story. Her mother seemed genuinely worried, but deep down inside, Sakura wanted to strangle her, torture her in the worst manner imaginable, and kill her slowly. She hated the woman, although her mother had always been oblivious to it. Idiot.

Limping up to her room, Sakura collapsed onto her bed, fighting back the nausea. Itachi had popped her wrists, elbows, and shoulders out of their sockets again. Only, rhis time the whole of the Akatsuki saw him do it, heard her scream and beg him to stop. She had seen Sasuke's eyes widen, and that was what had hurt her the most. Sometimes, it seemed, Itachi hated her, despised her for existing. He had muttered, "Why? Because you had it easy." When she asked him why he was doing that to her arms. Then, it didn't make any sense. But now, she understood. Itachi was jealous of her because she had gotten into the Akatsuki without striving, without working. He had worked his hardest all his life - fought against his family, killed everyone he probably loved a little - and she had been weaseled in by Gaara.

_Bad pun, _she scolded herself. _But, I suppose I'll have to find out everything I can, and work up as high as I can, to earn Itachi's blessings. Because, without them, Sasuke and I will never be able to marry, according to Uchiha tradition. The Uchiha in question must get a blessing from either the older siblings or the parents. And since all of Sasuke's relatives are dead, the only hope we have is Itachi. We have to convince him we're good for each other and deserve his blessings. _That was just one of many things she and Sasuke had discussed. He had also told her that the blood he had put in her veins would only work for a few weeks, and that it would stay within her permanently when Itachi told either she or Sasuke he gave his blessings. If Itachi never gave his blessings, Sakura's Sharingan would leave her before the month was over. And she didn't want to loose the Sharingan - she was finally able to see through the eyes of an Uchiha, she was finally able to fight well. Although Itachi had severely beaten her with his advanced three-pronged Sharingan, she was able to see a bit with her one-pronged version. She liked this newer, stronger version of herself. She felt more confident in herself then she ever had before.

_Tomorrow, _she thought to herself, _tomorrow Tsunade will catch me up on everything, tell me about the latest news and latest criminals and their actions. Pein told me to try and find out what they know about the Akatsuki - whether it's worth considering or not. _

Sakura's mind wandered to the keys Sasuke had given her - the keys to his house. He had told her to enter only if she suspected something or if she had absolutely nowhere else to hide. She agreed, mentally promising him that she wouldn't need to enter the Uchiha manor. Not without him, she wouldn't. If she never needed to, she could not go. Not until they were married and Sasuke brought her in himself.

With those thoughts in mind, Sakura quickly fell into a deep slumber.

_**(Sasuke) **_

Itachi had agreed to supervise he and Naruto as they carved out their room. He didn't have any explosive attacks, and so he couldn't help. But the mere fact that Itachi was finally supervising him was enough to make Chibi Sasuke inside squeal. He allowed Naruto to go first, who continuously attacked with Rasengan, the topped the attack with Double Rasengan.

Sasuke, excited to be able to show his aniki what he could do, called up Chidori and struck the wall with all the force he had. Already panting, he forced himself to call it up one more time, pulling his arm back and punching the wall.

When the dust cleared, Sasuke growled when he realized his fist was embedded in the wall. He put a foot up, pushed against the wall. Nothing but the feeling of the joints popping out of their sockets. Angrily throwing his head back, Sasuke looked over to Itachi and Naruto. The latter was collapsed, but the former was just staring at Sasuke as though curious as to what he was going to do. Sasuke felt his face turn scarlet, and he was embarrassed at that. "Umm, aniki, I uh..." he pushed against the wall again, trying to animate his being stuck.

Itachi, who had seemed to have been having a good time contemplating, walked over to Sasuke, examined the hand, and sighed as he turned to leave. "Aniki?" Sasuke called after him.

"I'll be back," he said simply.

Sasuke growled, turning his attention back to his stuck hand. He tried to pry his hand out whilst simultaneously waking Naruto, but his attempts were in vain. Neither seemed to budge. Sasuke turned his attention back to his hand, watching the blood pool around it, and run down the wall. He put both feet against the wall and pushed, only to cry out in pain. The hand wasn't moving, and would probably move only if the wall around was cut away or his hand was cut off...Sasuke tried flexing his fingers, and found that all but the thumb had been broken from the impact. Cringing at the feeling, Sasuke tried to unclench his fingers. But that didn't help either - his fingers had no room to flex. They had cramped together, and the joints had shattered. Sasuke cringed at the tiny shocks of pain in each finger hit every time his heart beat.

Itachi returned, Deidara at tow, who taunted him, saying, "Stuck your hand in a wall, un? Pathetic."

Sasuke looked over, scowled. "Just blow my hand out, _girly._"

"Girly?!" Deidara yelled, clenching his fists and running up close to Sasuke. He whispered, "How 'bout we just cut your arms off? Starting at the _base_." He ran a kunai up Sasuke's length - Sasuke shuddered at the cold touch.

"Deidara," Itachi's whisper-like voice was dreadfully close. If Deidara was to look over, he would've hit Itachi's face. "I did not call you here to rape my little brother."

He backed off, and Deidara smirked. He brought out some clay, molded them into spiders. He created four, placing each one around the sides of Sasuke's hand. He and Itachi stepped back - Sasuke closed his eyes and looked away, covered his face as well as he could with his free arm.

He heard Deidara mutter something, and the spiders exploded. Sasuke flew back, coughed as dust forcefully entered his mouth. His hand fell back, colliding with the ground. Sasuke cried out at the feeling, rolled over and held his broken hand in his unbroken one. He looked down to it, nearly in tears. If only Sakura were here to heal it...But without her, the only person that could splint fingers was...

Sasuke looked up, trembled at the fight of Itachi standing over him. Itachi waved his hand, and Deidara departed.Itachi then bent down to Sasuke, studied his hand. "You've broken the knuckles to your four main fingers. I'll splint them, but without Sakura, they might not heal right." Sasuke mechanically sat up, mentally preparing himself for the pain that was to come. Itachi sat beside him, crudely pulling Sasuke's arm under his, and grabbed the pointer finger.

Sasuke closed his eyes and screamed, "Aniki, don't! Please don't!" His eyes were watering already, and Itachi was barely touching him.

He could feel his aniki's eyes on him. "I haven't done anything yet." He seemed confused that Sasuke was nearly in tears already.

"Just touching it hurts! Please, don't!"

"Sasuke," Itachi began, and Sasuke looked at him. "Sleep." All of a sudden, Sasuke felt himself loosing consciousness. He fell, fell...And was out, cold, on Itachi's shoulder.

_**(Itachi) **_

He grabbed his pathetic otouto and brought him to his room. He laid Sasuke down on his bed, delt with his fingers there. Although he would be unconscious for the next six hours, Sasuke still cried out as Itachi pulled the fingers straight. Slowly, one by one, blood and Chakra made their way to his fingers, and they started to return to their normal hue. Itachi rubbed Sasuke's knuckles gently, in a way that promoted blood flow and quicker healing. He then splinted the fingers, looking down to Sasuke as he slept. _Can't stand pain, can you, otouto? _Itachi thought to Sasuke. _Too bad Sakura's not here to help you..._

A wave of contempt rushed through Itachi at the thought of Sakura. _The girl you shared your Bloodline Limit with. _He recalled back to the fake match. _And just when did you give her your blood, otouto? Have you propose already? You won't be able to marry without my blessing. And why should I give that? I've done nothing but take from you all your life, and I am most certainly not going to give now. _

An idea struck Itachi just then. Since he wanted to ruin Sasuke, and he always took from him, why not crush both Sasuke _and _Sakura by taking Sakura for himself? He knew from Deidara that she had slept with him, and it was likely she slep with Sasuke last night, which would've explained when Sasuke propose to her and gave her some of his Bloodline Limit. _Now _that's _an evil idea, _Itachi thought to himself with a smirk. _And who knows? Maybe it'll tear the both of them away from one another for good. Go back to Deidara, whelp. You're not good enough for Sasuke to even consider. _Itachi nodded, stood, and thought as he left Sasuke, _Haruno Sakura must be eliminated - she's much to weak for this world. _And he began the bases of his plans for Sakura.

* * *

Sasuke woke a few hours later and asked if he could talk to Itachi in private. Itachi nodded and brought his brother back to his room. Itachi took a seat on his bed, Sasuke across from him, on Gaara's. "Otouto," Itachi began in that emotionless whisper of his, "you wanted to speak to me?"

Sasuke looked down, avoiding his aniki's unforgiving eyes. Itachi was careful not to let any emotion slip onto his face - Sasuke was the only person that could read him like a book. "As you know, I gave Sakura her own Sharingan."

"Did you propose?" Itachi asked. He wanted to get this over quickly - he had more interesting things to do then talk to Sasuke. Sasuke looked up to him and nodded. "So you want my blessing." Aniki was a genius after all - he could figure things out.

"Please, nii-san. Sakura loves me and I love her. It would mean the world to me if - "

"Did you give yourself to her?" Itachi cut him off. He didn't need any of that love nonsense - he needed facts, to gather everything together. Loose ends and unknown happenings annoyed Itachi.

Sasuke blushed, looked away, and asked, "Why do you care?"

"Do you want my blessing or not?" _Although you're not going to get it today..._Itachi thought to himself.

"A few days ago." Sasuke answered gruffly.

"Not last night?" _Interesting..._

Sasuke shook his head. "Last night was when I proposed and gave her my blood. A few days before was when I gave myself to her." _Very interesting indeed...Does he actually love her, or does he love the sex? _

"Sasuke," Itachi changed the subject, "do you know what the Akatsuki are planning?" He reclined on his bed, resting his hands on his stomach. When Sasuke didn't answer, he prodded, "Do you?"

"No."

"Well, then. I'll tell you." And so he told his otouto about why he had spared him and why he had let one escape. He told Sasuke why the Akatsuki needed the nine Jinchuuriki sacrifices, and why three Uchihas were needed. He told Sasuke everything he had concocted in his mind long ago - the plain he had sold to the Akatsuki in exchange for his guaranteed, lifetime membership. Everything the Akatsuki were scheming, Itachi told Sasuke. And, although he had never been one with words, Itachi found himself quite the chatterbox. He was _excited _to tell his little brother about the reason of the Akatsuki, why they were so evil. He didn't believe he had ever talked more in his life.

He finished with his eyes closed and awaited Sasuke's answer to all this. He expected Sasuke to lash out, to protest, to hate himself, Naruto, and Sakura for joining, to run away and tell as many people as he could, to anything. But instead, Sasuke stood and hovered over him. Annoyed, Itachi asked him, "What are you doing, Sasuke?" He opened his eyes to see Sasuke's only a few inches from his.

"All my life, nii-san, I've wanted to beat you, surpass you. I wanted to prove to father I could be as great as you. I just wanted to be _noticed. _And when you destroyed the clan, I thought my soul ambition was to kill you, to avenge the clan, and resurrect it. But I see now. I didn't want to surpass you when I was young, nor did I want to kill you two years ago. I just wanted you to acknowledge me, to see my existence was _worth _something. That I was worth your time. That was all I've ever wanted. "

Itachi stared into Sasuke's eyes, full of suspicion. There wasn't one muscle on his body that wasn't tense - he was ready for any tricks Sasuke was going to try and pull. "I suppose you're going to kill me, now that you've caught me unawares and cornered." He forced his voice to remain steady. He closed his eyes.

Sasuke threw his fist down on Itachi's chest. Itachi opened his eyes, winded, and Sasuke said to him, "I'm tired of fighting, Aniki. I don't care if I don't have enough hate or I'm weak. Killing you or Naruto is no longer of the least importance."

_He's grown, _Itachi thought to himself. _No longer the young boy trying to prove himself, or the vengeful pre-teen living only to taste the blood of his brother on his kunai. Now...he's the mellow adolescent who just wants to be acknowledged by those he loves. He's finally learned. _Itachi sat upright, Sasuke let him. He studied his otouto a moment before saying, "You've really gown, haven't you? Yes, _now _you're worth my time."

Sasuke's face lit up. He closed his eyes, let his head gracefully fall to the ground. "Thank you, Itachi." he muttered the name for the first time in fifteen years.

Itachi nodded, stood. He was tempted to, but he wasn't going to give Sasuke his blessings. Not yet.

_**(Sakura) **_

She woke the next morning feeling better. Overnight, her arms had healed to where she could move them. She didn't feel as pounded on, didn't feel so utterly beaten.

But she was still sick.

The first thing she did when she was on her feet was run to the bathroom, gripping the rim of the toilet as she emptied her stomach of all its contents. _Damn it, _she thought to herself, _pregnant, aren't I? _She leaned over the toilet limply. _I'm going back to the base tonight, so I guess I'll tell Sasuke then. But I _could _see if he can figure it out on his own..._

Wiping the side of her mouth with the back of her hand, Sakura decided against her last thought. _I'll tell him, _she decided. She stood and went downstairs to find her mother cooking in the kitchen. "Ohiyo, Sakura." her mother greeted her.

"Ohiyo, mother. Do you have some medicine for stomachaches?"

"Upset stomach, Sakura?" Sakura nodded. "I believe there's something for it in the bathroom cupboard." Sakura thanked her mother, then wobbled back upstairs to the bathroom, where she downed a few of her mother's hangover pills. _Same symptoms, _she thought to herself, _so it should work. _She downed two, as the bottle instructed. She decided she's have breakfast, then leave for Tsunade's. _The quicker this day goes by, _she thought to herself, _the better. _She felt alone and desperate, knowing both Sasuke and Naruto were not in Konoha. She was completely and utterly alone.

_Until tonight, _she reminded herself. _Once night falls, I'll go back to the base, talk with Pein, and then with Sasuke and Itachi. _She felt a painful yearning for the day to pass, and knew it wouldn't go by quickly.

Sakura returned to her mother, who handed her a plate of full food. "Eat up, chibi." Sakura growled. She _hated _being referred to as 'chibi', but her mother made it a habit to call her that. "After all you went through, you must be exhausted." Sakura nodded, and her Inner Self said to her mother, _Yes, I'm very tired. Now shut the hell up! _Every time her chatterbox of a mother opened her mouth, Sakura wanted to impale her. Her mother's very presence was annoying her. She ate quickly and left silently, ignoring the cheerful goodbyes her mother had tried to send her.

As she walked to Tsunade's, Sakura's passed Ino's house, when Ino came out and began her chattering. "Where have you been, Sakura? And Sasuke-kun? I haven't seen him, either. Hinata reported Naruto gone, and Temari's going to loose her baby if she keeps worrying about Gaara."

A red flag went up at this. "Wait, Temari, pregnant?"

Ino nodded. "Umhm. With Shikamaru's baby. They're getting married soon."

Sakura nodded. "I think I'll go see them later. What's new with you, Ino?" _It's so easy to switch planes with a gossip girl. _Sakura thought to herself.

Ino sighed. "Nothing really. No boyfriends, no crushes, no anything. Just Ino."

_I bet Deidara would be a nice match for her, _Sakura thought to herself. "What kind of guy are you looking for?"

"Long blonde hair and blue eyes!" She squealed hapilly, imagining her man.

Sakura smirked. "Well, Ino, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye!"

"Bye!" She heard Ino shout, her voice telling Sakura she was fantasizing about the man of her dreams.

Sakura continued on her route, no longer running in to anyone. She checked in with Tsunade, who was glad to inform her that they were getting closer to the Akatsuki base, albeit there hadn't been any further progress. She also reported that the Sound Village had found a new leader and were quickly becoming a threat again. The new leader's name was Kabuto of Konoha. Little was known about his plans of peacefulness. They spoke briefly about the two Leaf nin and one Sand nin that had gone missing, and Tsunade had asked if they had been connected with her disappearance. Sakura pretended to think about it, then shook her head and told Tsunade there was no way they could be connected.

After that, the two of them trained for a while, in which Tsunade explained the diamond on her forehead and began teaching Sakura how to use it. By the end of the day, Sakura had a diamond of her own. But she was left feeling weaker and more drained then she had ever felt before. The diamond glowed on her forehead, but until tomorrow, it would be unusable. Tomorrow she would learn the entire jutsu, and why she must only use it in dire situations where there was no other choice. Sakura promised with her life she would only use it when all else failed.

Tsunade then sent her home, telling her that they would complete and perfect the new jutsu tomorrow, where her strengths would also be tested. Sakura thanked her and headed back to her house.

When Tsunade had gone as well, Sakura walked a minute, then doubled back, suppressing all traces of Chakra she carried on her. She snuck into the S-class criminal records, which she quickly skimmed through. There was information every Akatsuki member, to which she read. But Pein's information was the one that struck at her the most. There was mug shots of him, followed by vague descriptions. Caucasian male, orange spiky hair, red eyes, about 5'6"...In the picture, there were no piercings riddling his face. He looked better, a little more attractive and a little less vicious.

_He took out the Rain Village single-handedly?! _She thought to herself. _Looks like that village _wanted _him to, was proud of him when he did...But single-handedly? And he killed the leader's affiliates, everyone who knew him personally. That way, there would be no one left to oppose him. I suppose that entire village is run by Akatsuki now...Also, this data, this picture, was taken five years ago. So, somewhere between now and then, he got them. Or maybe he took them out when captured? Either way, the Akatsuki were established more then five years ago - although this sheet claims only five years. It had to have been earlier then this information, because Itachi joined at fifteen, and he's twenty-one now. That's _six _years. I didn't know Konoha's information was so flawed..._She carefully put the documents back, exactly where they were, and created a Shadow Replication of herself that was sent back to her house. She left the S-class records room and quickly made for the cliff overlooking Konoha. There, she dispelled any tracks Tsunade might have put on her. She left.

Sakura made it to the Akatsuki base by midnight. Relief rushing through her, she limped to the entrance, throwing her hand on the boulder. It opened without hesitation, and Sakura thankfully entered.

There was a few people at the table, but none she really spoke to. Sakura nodded a bit at them, continued on to Pein's room. She was stopped by Sasuke, Naruto, Deidara, and Itachi, who were carving out Sasuke and Naruto's room. Sasuke and Naruto warmly greeted her, Deidara just nodded when she looked to him, and Itachi didn't care, as always. "Sakura-chan," Naruto began, "you can punch through walls, right?"

Sakura nodded, stepped up to the eight-foot-deep depression in the wall, and called up come Chakra. She pulled her fist back, then punched the wall with all her force, leaning into it a bit. As usual, the rock broke about twenty feet back, in a rectangular shape. She panted - that had seriously dented her already-low Chakra. "Nice, Sakura." She heard Sasuke say. She looked over to him, spotted his splinted hand.

"What happened?" She asked him, pointing onto his hand.

"Oh, this?" Sasuke as as he held it up, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand and smiling. "I broke it from Chidori - the impact."

She gently took his hand, used her Chakra to look inside. "You broke it, alright. Shattered the knuckles completely. I can't heal this know, though - not enough Chakra. But don't hit or use that hand at all - the slightest slip could inject bone fragments into the blood system. Drink plenty of milk."

"How long will it take to heal?"

"Without me to heal them, you'd never be able to bend these fingers again." She returned to her normal vision, looked to Sasuke, who's eyes had widened. "I have to heal them as soon as possible, but it can't be tonight."

He nodded, and she gave him his hand back. With a wave, she left to Pein's room, knocked on his door, and entered. Itachi followed her inside.

Pein, in the chair behind the deck, had his back to her. "Sakura," he began. She nodded. "What have you gathered?"

Sakura discussed with the both of them what she had been told and what she had figured out. She told him of her suspicions, her worries. She reminded him how three missing nin had aroused suspicion within Konoha. She told he and Itachi everything, save for her suspicions and self-gatherings about Pein himself. But he didn't need to know that.

"According to my jutsu," Pein began, "everything you've reported is relevant to what you were told. So maybe we _can _trust you." He wheeled around in his chair, put his hands on the deck like Sasuke used to, covering his mouth. "However, my jutsu also reports that you're suspicious of me." Sakura's eyes widened. _That jutsu, _she thought, _does it read my mind? _"Yes, it does." Pein answered her thought question. "While you're here, at the base, at least. Once you step outside, it's dispelled. But when you step inside again, it clings to you. This is how I know you're telling the truth. Now, what about me don't you like?"

_Your face, _Inner Sakura sneered, and Sakura slapped her palm to her forehead.

"What was that?" Pein asked menacingly.

_I said your - _"Nothing! That wasn't me. Anyway, I was looking through Tsunade's S-class records, and you were there. But you looked younger - and no piercings, either. It was dated five years ago, but that can't be right because Itachi joined six years ago. But on the paper, it said you'd just been established..."

"That they knew of." Pein said simply. "Before Itachi, we could hardly call ourselves an organization. We did out first 'stunt' when that record had been made." Sakura nodded, now understanding. "And yes, I took the Village of Rain single-handedly. They work for us now, as you've assumed." There was a pause before he finished, "Since that's all you have to report, leave me." Sakura nodded and left.

Sakura stopped by Naruto and Sasuke's new room and saw them carving inside, a smaller room. She entered and asked, "What are you doing now?"

"We need a working bathroom," Sasuke explained.

"Running water and everything!" Naruto added.

"I can knock out the basics for you." Sakura offered, watching Naruto as he attacked the wall with Rasengan. "You guys won't get very far without Chirdori."

Sasuke nodded. "But do you have the Chakra? You were panting before."

"I have enough to do some damage." Sasuke nodded and took a step back. Naruto stepped to the side. Inwardly sighing, Sakura collected some Chakra to her fist and swung at the wall as hard as she could, earning the two teammates a fairly-large sized bath. She collapsed to her knees, panting. _Too much Chakra, _she thought to herself, _I don't have enough to get home before dawn..._

Sasuke bent down to her, wrapping an arm around her. "You okay, Sakura?"

"Used...too much Chakra," she explained between pants. She let her head drop, and in Sasuke's arms, she felt stronger. Eventually, she was able to catch her breath, and stood. Sasuke allowed her to lean on him, and she took the offer greedily. Naruto and Deidara began work on the bathroom's outlets. Sasuke held her in his arms, and she felt there was no safer place in the world. She could've fallen asleep just then, and it wouldn't matter. She broke herself out of her trance when she whispered, "Sasuke, we have to - "

She was cut off by Itachi's voice. "Sasuke, Sakura." The emotionless voice washe dover her like ice water. She shuddered, trying to keep it from echoing through her thoughts. Sasuke looked over his shoulder. "Come. We have many things to talk about."

Sakura's feet felt like lead, but, in the arms of Sasuke, she was a little more confident. Sasuke, who's arm was still draped over her shoulder, guided her along behind Itachi.

Itachi led the both of them to the training area, sat on a boulder by the lake, motioned for Sakura and Sasuke to do the same. The two of them sat behind him, looking to the meadow. "Why should I?" Itachi asked them, his voice telling Sakura he was in deep thought.

Sasuke did the talking. "Because I love her."

"You don't know what love is." Itachi said simply. "You were so ready to give yourself to her. You're so ready to give her your name. But you don't know what love really is."

"It comes naturally." Sasuke explained it. "You can't stop it or ignore it. Not forever."

"You're very naive, otouto. Do you really believe I hated our family all my life? No. I truly learned hatred a few days before I killed them all. Before then I loved them. I even loved you, Sasuke." An air of nervousness cascaded from Sasuke. _He speaks of the murders so simply..._Sakura thought to herself, _As thought it was nothing more then squishing a bug. _"So, Sasuke, are you sure you love her?"

"With all my heart." Sasuke remained bold. "And I'm ready to spend my life with her." Sakura smiled at this.

"Hmm." Itachi said simply. "Here." His arm spread out, and in his clenched fist were two necklaces, one of the shared half-pendent kinds. As they clinked in the breeze, they connected, then pushed away. They were little Yin and Yang replicas.

"Mother and Father's pendents," Sasuke breathed as he took them, studying them in his hand. "Y-you kept them?"

"I'm not giving my blessings yet." Itachi said instead. "But you can have those. Do with them what you will." Sasuke gently put the white - Yin - on Sakura and gave himself the black - Yang. Hers radiated a warm, peaceful heat. She wondered if Sasuke's was cold and chaotic. "And what will I receive if I give you my blessings?"

Sasuke studied Itachi's back. "What are you asking for?"

Itachi smirked. "Almost a week ago, you gave yourself to her. Your first time. But it was her second."

"So?"

"Don't you want to know _who _she gave herself to?" When Sasuke didn't answer, he finished, "Deidara."

"That's a past relationship. Why should I care?"

"I wasn't expecting you to. I just figured a couple shouldn't keep secrets." There was a pause before he finished, "Oh, and she's pregnant."

Sasuke looked over to her scarlet face. "I was going to tell you tonight." She explained weakly. She felt bad for keeping it a secret for those few minutes. "When we were alone."

Sasuke held her close to him. Her pendent seemed to glow warmer at his close proximity. She wondered if his got colder. "Don't feel bad, okay?" _He must've sensed an air around me, _she thought to herself. "I'm not upset or anything. It was my fault in the first place," he joked. Sakura didn't feel any better.

"Do we keep it?"

"Of course we keep it." He seemed offended by the question. _Stupid question, _she scolded herself. _Of course he wants it. _

_But do _you _want it? _Inner Sakura asked her.

_Of course I do. _She actually answered.

_Then why do we feel so bad? _Her Inner Self asked. Sakura didn't know the answer to that, but she attempted:

_Maybe we feel so bad because we know we're not ready. At fifteen, I don't feel very confident. _She could feel her Inner Self nod at this.

Sakura cuddled up against Sasuke. She was cold, and the warm 'glow' of the pendent made her sleepy. Sasuke rested his head on hers, sharing his warmth. Almost mechanically, Sakura closed her eyes and said, "What do you want, Itachi?" Her voice had a dreamy tone to it, which didn't help with staying awake.

"What are you prepared to give?" His cold voice almost completely shattered her feeling of warmth.

"I can heal your eyes. If you let me, I can also find the abilities you didn't know about. I can make them better, stronger."

Itachi was silent at this. "If you can heal my eyes completely, _and _accomplish what you're suggesting, I will give my blessing."

"Very well, then. I'll meet with you next time I return. Until then, you should try deactivating the Sharingan unless you're fighting. That in itself might do you good." Itachi nodded and disappeared. After a minute, Sakura said to Sasuke, "Are we ready for this?"

Sasuke wrapped one arm around her stomach. She held his arm with one of hers. "No," he answered with a sigh, and her heart fell. "But we'll be ready when it comes." She felt better, more confident, at this. "So, what to name it?"

"I think it's going to be a girl."

"Of course," Sasuke teased.

"No, really. Something's telling me it's a girl."

"Then what do we call _her_? Yue is nice. Umm, but Misha's cute, too. Uh, Ishizu? No, I don't like that much. How about - ?"

"I like Ita."

"Ita? Like short for - "

"No. Just Ita."

"Uchiha Ita. Has a cute ring to it. But what if it _is _a boy?"

"Noriaki?"

"Noriaki?" Sasuke repeated, his face squinching. "I don't like the sound of that. Uchiha Noriaki. Just doesn't sound right."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Madara?"

Sasuke shook his head vigorously. "_Not _Madara."

"What do you have against it?"

"Just no, Sakura."

She studied him a moment before she continued on, "How about Yuri?"

"Umm, no. Misha's a good boy's name. Uchiha Misha. See? It flows."

Sakura nodded, liking both the names they have chosen. "Uchiha Ita and Uchiha Misha." She nodded again. "I like the ring they have. So it's settled. Misha or Ita."

Sasuke nodded dreamily. "What do you think she'll look like?"

"Pale. Onyx orbs for eyes, bloodstained with Sharingan. By five, long, flowing, pink hair. Sort of like Itachi's. Your eyes and complexion. But I think she'll have Itachi's love of training."

"Really? Wow, Sakura, are you physic?" They both chuckled weakly. Sasuke looked up to the midnight black sky littered with white speckles and said, "So, I guess you'll be leaving soon."

"I have a few hours." So, the two of them spent the night together in each other's arms. They had each other, and they knew, at that very moment, that all they needed was one another.


	13. Chapter 13: Promotion

**Chapter 13: Promotion**

Sakura stayed away from the base for a while after that. Nothing interesting had been dug up from Tsunade's records, and so Sakura had nothing to report but Morning Sickness. She bit through the nausea and continued her training with Tsunade. After she had perfected the diamond jutsu. Tsunade had sent her on a test to see how good she really was. Although the Morning Sickness was affecting her performance, she had been able to defeat an ANBU member, as requested. Tsunade told her her training as a ninja was complete, but her training as a medic nin had just begun. She also told her that she, from then on, was an ANBU member. She went through the whole ceremony, yada, yada, yada...But, when she got to choose the mask, she was torn with indecision. They had told her she could have any animal she wanted, and they would make her one if it hadn't already been made. There were no restrictions, so she should she ask for the weasel...? She decided to risk it and asked for it.

There was a hush over the group of people, until someone shouted orders. The weasel mask was brought out on a blood-red pillow. It was cracked and bloodstained, but she liked the look of it. The mask was put on her, the clothes and katana given to her. The mask had a cool feel to it, but she enjoyed it. She had made a good choice. As the ceremony closed, she realized she was truly the weasel now, and weasel she would be identified as.

Sakura went home with the new outfit on, getting a feel of it. The mask fit her comfortably - it was odd, knowing she was the first to touch it in eight years. But it fit her so well...Her necklace glowed. The walls of the mask were cool, and harbored the faint smell of blood. She actually _enjoyed _the way it smelled, but not to the point where she wanted to throw up. _They haven't touched it since Itachi cast it aside..._She thought to herself, almost proud to be wearing it. Sakura made her way to Temari and Shikamaru's house, removing the mask before she knocked.

The door was answered by Temari, who greeted her and allowed her in. Sakura and Temari sat at the kitchen table and talked. The first question Temari asked was, "Have you heard from Gaara?" Her face was full of concern.

Sakura looked to her hands. "Yeah, I've seen him around."

Temari's face lit up. "You have? Kankuru saw him, too. A few weeks ago. When did you see him last?"

"A few days ago. But he didn't want me to tell you - or anyone else - where he was or what he was doing." She paused and added a "Sorry," at Temari's sad face.

She nodded. "Gaara's always been that way - subconsciously protecting Kankuru and I by keeping us ignorant to his affairs. If you see him again, can you tell him I love him?"

Sakura nodded and changed the subject. "Ino tells me you and Shikamaru are engaged?"

Temari's face brightened again. "Oh, yes! We're arranged to have the wedding in a few weeks. You're invited, if you can make it."

Sakura smiled, nodded. "I've also heard in a few months...?"

Temari grew a wide smile, wrapped her arms around a small swell on her stomach. "Yes, we're expecting a baby boy in March. We've decided to call him Sugiyama."

"That's a cute name," Sakura said politely, but her Inner Self shouted, _Sugiyama?! What type of a name is _that"but how do you know it's going to be a boy?"

"You don't know, Sakura?" Temari asked as she stood, approached her, and gently took her hand. "Just apply Chakra, as you would to see the inside of a person's wounds. But here, your Chakra is resonating through the womb, and back to your hand. Like this." She took her hand and placed it on the swell, sending her Chakra through it.

"That's amazing," Sakura breathed as she watched Sugiyama move. It was as though she was there, beside the developing baby. Temari dropped her hand and returned to her seat. "Temari, how far along are you?"

"Two months."

"So you conceived in June?" Temari nodded. "How far along do you have to be for this Chakra-thing to work?"

"At least a full month. Why?"

"Oh, nothing." Sakura replied as she went a deep shade of scarlet. "Just curious, is all."

But Temari knew. She gasped, leaned over the table, and asked, "Sakura, are you pregnant?!" Sakura nodded feebly. "And who's the father?"

If it was possible, Sakura's blush deepened. "Sasuke," she muttered.

"Ooh, Uchiha." Temari seemed to approve. "I suppose, then, that you're getting married?"

Sakura nodded. "He proposed the night before I found out. We're going to get married whenever we actually have the time."

"Whenever you have the time?" Temari repeated with a curious tilt of her head.

"He's ANBU as well - always out on missions of his own. He's not home until nightfall - when I leave. So whenever we actually have the time to get married, we will." _Wow, you're getting better at this, _she thought to herself.

Temari nodded then, completely falling for her lie. "I understand, but you shouldn't fight during pregnancy - it can seriously harm the baby. But I suppose, for the first few weeks, you'll be alright."

Sakura nodded as well, then, "Temari, can you keep this between you an me? I'd rather not have the whole of Konoha know.

Temari smiled. "Your secret's safe with me."

It was with glum and groans that Sakura left with - she didn't want to leave. She decided to go check the records for anything new, but she already knew there would be nothing new - she would've been briefed about it at her first ANBU meeting. She hadn't, so she guessed there would be nothing of interest in the records.

_Better safe then sorry, _she thought to herself.

She made it to the records unmolested and calmly scanned through them. _Nope, nothing knew. _Sighing, she replaced everything to its original position and left. She had stayed from the Akatsuki for almost a week now, and if she didn't check in with Pein soon, he would be very angry with her, it he wasn't already. Sasuke and Naruto would get worried, and Itachi wouldn't give his blessings if she made him wait too long.

_I'll go back tomorrow night, _she thought as she walked through the door of her house. She climbed upstairs to her bed and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura awoke to nothing but Morning Sickness. Groaning, Sakura dragged herself out of bed and to the toilet.

Spilling the contents of previous meals, Sakura groaned, asked herself, "How long is this going to last?" She rested her head on her arm, which was resting on the rim of the toilet.

"The first trimester, or the first three months." Her mother's voice came from behind. She didn't bother looking back to her. Her mother sat on her left side, gently rubbing her back. "You should take these next nine months off, Sakura." Sakura objected, and her mother said instead, "Or once you start to show. You can't fight - you'll harm the baby." Sakura nodded feebly, groaning as she felt more vomit coming up. "Who's the father?"

"Sasuke," she whispered, wiping vomit away from the corners of her mouth.

"So you're getting married?"

"Whenever we get the chance."

"You have my blessings, darling."

"Arigato." _It's not yours I want! _Inner Sakura shouted. Her mother held her hair back for her, whilst rubbing her back with her free hand.

"Sakura, darling, I want you to take the pregnancy off - this if your first child. You have to stay calm - no stressing over missions. If you don't tell Tsunade, I will. Whichever, I want you to leave Konoha and take the next nine months off. I'll give you enough money to live with. When the baby's born, you can come back. Understand?"

It was rare to hear her mother so strict, so serious, which was why Sakura agreed with a groan. _What about gathering information for Pein? _she asked herself.

_Fuck Pein! _Her Inner Self shouted. _Just go back to the base and explain everything. Spend the next nine months with Sasuke and Naruto. Aren't you tired of being alone, anyway? _Sakura agreed with that.

"Fine. I'll go now. You can tell Tsunade and all the rest - I don't have the heart to." She lied. She didn't want to heave to tell Tsunade because she didn't want to be held back. Her mother nodded, helped her up, and helped her pack.

She was gone in a matter of minutes. Putting the mask on and tying her hair up, Sakura departed, actually waving her mother goodbye.

Sakura jumped off in the direction of the next village over, but when she hit the outskirts of Konoha, she smartly doubled back and headed for the Akatsuki base. She jumped over the roofs of the buildings slowly, thinking about the past. She wasn't leaving it, she knew. She was leaving the village it took place. By leaving Konoha and going back to the Akatsuki, she was going back to her true past - Naruto and Sasuke. The two men she loved with all her heart, only in two separate ways. She's rather be with the people of her past then the village it had taken place in.

Sakura went a little faster at these thoughts, but was forced to stop frequently by fits of vomiting. It was nightfall by the time she made it to the Akatsuki base. She calmly strode to the entrance, waiting to be stopped.

She was. By the two Uchiha brothers. Itachi was perfectly calm, but Sasuke was anxiously biting his lower lip, falling into his stance. She smirked, wondering how long it would take them to realize who it was under the mask.

"Why are you here?" The emotionless voice of Itachi stabbed through her. "Tell us, and I might spare you." _What a liar, _she thought to herself. _Itachi would never spare anyone..._

Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but stopped herself when her Inner Self swords. Her eyes widened when her Inner Self shouted, _Vomit fit! _Panicking, Sakura jumped off to the side, aiming for the trees. Itachi's quick movements caught her before she got very far.

Sakura wriggled under his grasp - he had her in a submission hold, painfully twisting her right arm and holding it against her back. Whenever she moved, even an inch, he pressed her arm closer to her back. She cried out in pain, shouting, "Itachi! It's me, Sakura!"

"How do I know that?" he asked as he pressed against Sakura's arm.

She cried out in pain and shouted, "I'm gonna puke! Lemme go!" She tried to move her pinned arm, which only resulted in more pain. Giving up, she used her free hand to push the weasel mask up and off, doing so just in time. She bent forwards, emptied her stomach.

"Let her go, Aniki!" Apparently, Sasuke couldn't get used to referring to Itachi as Itachi. "It's her." Itachi handed her off to Sasuke and departed. "You okay, Sakura?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and helped her inside. He collected her ANBU mask, studying it.

"Yeah." She answered weakly, wiping away the vomit.

"Promotion, eh?" Sasuke asked, politely trying to change the subject. Sakura nodded. "Why'd you choose the weasel?"

Sakura shrugged. "It resembles dishonesty, death...I thought it fit."

"And you wanted to get on Itachi's good side."

"He has one of those?" She joked with a smile, and they both laughed.

The two of them sat at the meeting table with Itachi, Gaara, Deidara, and Naruto. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto said happily as she took a seat. Haven't seen you for a while!" he smiled.

Sakura smiled as well. "I missed you too, Naruto." He blushed and looked away.

"Anything new to report?" Sasuke asked her.

She shook her head. "Besides my promotion, nothing. Oh, Gaara," Gaara looked over to her. "Temari says she loves you. She and Shikamaru are engaged and expecting a baby boy." Gaara studied her for a moment, then looked away. "Oh yeah, I'm unable to return to Konoha until I have the baby - Tsunade's orders."

Sasuke smiled as he wrapped his arms around her. "I like those orders. It gives us more time alone, no?" Sakura smiled and cuddled up closer.

"That also means she'll be able to heal my eyes sooner," Itachi reminded her.

"Oh, yes." Sakura said as she looked to him. "You deactivated your Sharingan," she observed. "Good. How bad is your sight?"

"It's as though I'm looking underwater."

"Go easy on your eyes - don't put a strain on them. Tomorrow we'll start." Itachi nodded.

"Sakura," Pein called form the hall leading to his corridor. Sakura nodded and went with him.

"I have nothing to report," she said as Pein sat in his chair.

"Nothing?" He repeated. "You've been gone for a week, and nothing substantial had been found?" Sakura shook her head, but Pein continued with the memory-transfer jutsu anyway. "Hmm, you weren't lying." Pein said as she skimmed through her memories. "Very well, then." He stopped for a moment. Then, "I understand you're staying here for the next nine months?"

Sakura nodded, covered her mouth quickly when she felt vomit welling. "I'm gonna puke." She said weakly, trying to keep it down. Pein lazily pointed to a bathroom on her right. She ran over to the toilet, sat beside it, and vomited, She coughed up the rest of it, wiped her mouth off with her hand. She looked up to see Pein standing over her. She looked away and said to him, "You probably think I'm pathetic, too, right? Not worth your time..."

"It happens to every woman eventually." She looked up at this, and was shocked to see him offering his hand. She took it with her clean one, thanking him. "No training until after the baby is born. Take it easy - don't push yourself too much."

"What do you care?" This different, almost sentimental, version of Pein was almost frightening. She gently took her hand back, now standing.

"Because you're carrying an Uchiha." He said simply, and Sakura looked into his eyes. She almost felt better at him acting more like himself again - it was almost comforting this way. "You're dismissed." He walked away. Sakura studied him for the briefest of moments before leaving.

Sakura went back to the meeting table where Sasuke was waiting for her. He informed her that Hidan and Kakuzu had gone on a night mission and everyone else had retired to bed.

The two of them went to the training grounds where they decided to sleep under the stars together. Removing her katana, Sakura laid down beside Sasuke, who allowed her to crawl under his cloak with him - they kept it buttoned up, as though it was a sleeping bag. Sasuke's curious hand slithered down her body, into her pants, and into her. Each finger gingerly explored. She moaned a little, he ran his free hand through her hair, kissing her passionately. Sasuke, still kissing her, removed his hand and rolled on top of her, sliding both hands up her shirt. He massaged her breasts, moved from her lips to her neck. He took his hands back and worked on her pants. Sasuke slipped them off and went down below.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke sent his tongue into her, swirled it around. Sakura gasped, held his head, and thrust upwards. She felt him smile as she let her hips drop. Sakura ran her fingers through his coarse hair. His tongue explored, tracing around her most sensitive point. She moaned.

Jut when she was starting to get used to the feelings, Sasuke left her, giving her a final kiss before picking his head up and replacing her pants for her. He climbed back up to her and just held her in his arms. The two of them fell asleep like that.

_**(Itachi)**_

The morning after Sakura's arrival, Itachi awoke, knowing today was the day. Everyone but he, Sasuke, and Sakura were being sent out on a mission. Sasuke and Sakura were closer then ever, despite his attempts to keep them apart by keeping both busy with their own affairs. It seemed that the longer they were apart, the closer they were on reunion. And that annoyed him. It annoyed him more then hell. Today was the day he would break the two of them.

As always, Itachi woke before anyone else. Soon, the rest would wake, prepare, and leave. The last team would be gone by noon, latest. That gave him more then enough time.

Itachi sat at the meeting table, patiently waiting. A few minutes later, he sensed both Sasuke and Sakura's Chakra approaching. _Damn it, _Itachi thought to himself, _why'd _they _have to be the next to two show up? Hell, I would've settled for the Kyuubi-bearer! _He closed his eyes in frustration, fighting to keep the emotion from showing on his face.

Sasuke approached with Sakura then. Sasuke sat at the table with Itachi, and Sakura went to the kitchen. "Fruit?" She yelled.

"Yeah!"

"Plums?"

"Peach!" A peach was tossed over. Sasuke caught it, took a bite.

Sakura sat beside him, biting a plum. Itachi's sensed had been heightened through being a ninja, and sometimes he thought he wouldn't need sight if he ever did go blind. But then again, without sight, there was no Sharingan, Magekyou, or Tsukoyomi. Itachi decided having sight was a good thing. "I'll work on your eyes later, okay, Itachi?" Sakura spoke to him. It annoyed him how she addressed him as something weaker or equivalent to herself. Even _Sasuke _treated him as a superior, and the bitch Sakura was the only one who didn't. Frankly, it pissed him off.

"Why later?" He asked simply, trying to forget the anger. _Save it for later, _he reminded himself, _when you'll need it. _

"Well, I figured I'd help Sasuke and Naruto with - "

"Naruto's off on a mission with Gaara and Kisame, covering for me. Deidara and Sasori are leaving as well, along with Zetsu. And Hidan and Kakuzu won't be back until the end of the week, at least."

"Hmm. Well, then." Sakura climbed onto the table, sitting on her legs. "I guess we'll start now." Itachi nodded, removing his headband and storing it inside his overcoat. He pulled that off as well, cast it to the side. Itachi climbed onto the table as well, lying fown, and neatly folding his hands on his stomach. Sakura stared into the bottomless onyx orbs that were his eyes for a moment, before gently laying her fingertips on either sides of his temples. "When you feel my Chakra, activate the Sharingan." She sent it, and he calmly blinked his Sharingan into performance. Sakura studied the inside of his eyes for a long while before asking him to deactivate them. He obliged. "Do you eyes feel any different when activating your Sharingan?" She seemed wholly interested now. He shook his head. "Can you activate Mangekyou now?" He willed his Sharingans into action - as always, he was greeted with the dull pain in his eyes. Sort of like going without blinking for too long. Sakura took a deep breath and asked, "Do you feel any sort of pain when activating this?"

"Only recently," Itachi admitted.

"Have you been using Mangekyou more often?"

"No."

"Tsukoyomi?"

"Only Sharingan."

Mangekyou fadded. "Can you activate Tsukoyomi for me?" He did as she asked - he closed his eyes. As she watched it work, she said to him, "The problem is most likely in keeping the Sharingan activated - Mangekyou and Tsukoyomi don't seem to be affecting you as much. Also," she began as she took one of his hands, "if you send more Chakra _here_," she made it visible to him, "you could achieve a higher version of both Tsukoyomi and Mangekyou. But be careful - too much Chakra here, and it'll burst." Itachi nodded, removed his hands. "If I may?" She began as she gently placed one hand over each eye. He closed them. "This'll help a bit. But you have to let your eyes rest for a while before you keep your Sharingan activated again - you have to give them a chance to revive themselves. I don't know how much of a difference this will make for you, but over time with more sessions, it'll heal completely. But, just so you know, I'm not doing this for you every six years unless I get paid." The Chakra that went to his eyes took away the stinging. They actually felt like normal eyes - no feeling. The Chakra flow ceased, and when Sakura removed her hands and he opened his eyes, everything was perfectly clear again. His vision had returned. "How much better is it?" She asked him.

"Like looking through a poorly-cleaned glass," he lied. _Make her feel weaker..._

Sakura stood, held her hand up as high as she could, and asked him, "How many fingers?"

"Two. Three. Five. Four." She held out her pointer finger and he said to her, "Fuck you too, Sakura." She smiled, he sat upright, pulling the overcoat over him.

"Good. An improvement. We'll do this again tomorrow, and continued until it's heal completely. Until then, use the Sharingan only when fighting."

Deidara and Sasori appeared then, sitting where Itachi had been. Itachi, although he had been fighting it, rubbed an eye. He moved back to the bench of the table, sitting beside Deidara, who noted, "I'm hungry, un."

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, still sitting on the table. "Peaches? Plums? I've got everything."

"Cereal's fine." Sakura nodded, jumped away.

Naruto appeared next, stretching and yawning. He sat beside Sasuke, letting his head drop to the table with a loud _thud. _

Sakura reappeared, handing the bowl of cereal to Deidara. "Ohiyo, Naruto!" She said happily. "Want breakfast?"

"Can I have some Ramen?" She nodded and left.

"You're going to die of a Ramen-induced heart attack, dobe." Sasuke told Naruto, who didn't seemed to care in the least.

Gaara walked over next, sitting on Itachi's free side. He folded his arms, as usual, and studied Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto didn't notice, but Sasuke returned the gaze. "Gaara," Itachi began, and Gaara looked up to him. "are you ready?" Gaara nodded. "Kisame will do whatever you ask, as long as you prove to him he should. Careful, though, he talks with his fists."

Sakura returned, setting the steaming bowl of Ramen in front of Naruto. She asked both Gaara and Itachi himself if they wanted anything, but both declined. Itachi didn't feel like having breakfast, and Gaara wasn't hungry.

Kisame and Zetsu sat then, Kisame with his own fish breakfast. Sakura looked over to Zetsu, left to the kitchen, and returned a few minutes later, she returned with a platter piled high with peaches and plums. She gave them to a very-happy Zetsu, telling him, "I heard you like to eat, so there ya go!" He took one fruit in each hand and wolfed down the platter.

Sasori and Deidara said their goodbyes and left. After Kisame had finished eating, he, Gaara, and Naruto departed. Zetsu was the last to go, but eventually he went.

"And then there were three," Sakura said as she sat beside Sasuke.

"Things happen in threes," Itachi told her. _Not now, _he thought to himself. _Wait for the perfect opportunity, then strike. Be patient! You'll get her soon enough. _He stood and departed for his room. Sasuke and Sakura followed. Itachi smirked. _This is going to work out fabulously._

Itachi led the both of them to his room, where he closed the door behind them. As fast as he could, he cast Tsukoyomi on Sasuke and had Sakura pinned against the far wall. She gasped, tried to wriggle out of his gasp. But he held firm. "Pretty Sakura," he began, smelling her neck. She shuddered. "I've finally figured out why I hate you so." He crashed his lips onto hers. "I hate you," he began when he let her up, "because I love you."


	14. Chapter 14: Violated

**Chapter 14: Violated**

The kiss from Itachi was rough, but taken. His lips were tender little pink things, and warmer then Sakura would've anticipated. She gasped when he backed off and realization hit. _Is he really going to...? _

He threw her on the bed to the right. he removed the Akatsuki cloak, his katana, and threw them to the side. Itachi climbed onto the bed, hovering over her. His lips crashed onto her for the briefest of moments before he came back up and said, "You're a whore, Sakura." He slid her clothes off.He began a trail of kisses from her neck to her treasure. Itachi instead inserted his tongue, testing. Sakura gasped at the feeling, thrust her hips up. Itachi grabbed her left hip cruelly and pressed down, telling her he'd be the one doing the thrusting. She cried out as he gripped her harder, digging between her pelvis and hip bone.

Itachi grunted, took his tongue back when he found what he was looking for. He began removing his clothes whilst retuning to her and telling her, "You're too small - If I go right into you, you'll rip. But that's not my problem." He smirked, she gasped. Sakura's eyes wandered down to his member and felt tears in them. He was so much bigger then Sasuke...He was right, too. If he just shoved himself in, which he was planning on doing, she would rip. He was much too big for her.

Itachi thrust into her with all the force he had, moving the bed up a bit. Sakura cried out, threw her head back, tears welling in her eyes. She felt herself rip and cried out louder - Itachi responded by completely removing his member, then thrusting back insider harder then before, all the while telling her what a whore she was.

Five and a half hours that lasted. Then, when she was completely broken, Itachi finished with her. He left her, dressed, and departed completely. But before he left, he looked back at her broken body and spirit and said to her, "Take my blessings. I don't want them."

For half an hour, Sakura sat there on the bed, legs wide open. She felt herself bleeding still, and was in so much pain she couldn't move. So, she just sat there and cried, because the region below hurt so much. Frozen in position, Sakura rolled her head over to the Tsukoyomi-induced Sasuke. Fresh tears came, because, although she had been raped, she felt like she had betrayed him. She called out his name in a raspy voice, and he actually stirred a bit. "Sasuke!" She cried through tears. "Sasuke, please wake up! I need you!" But Sasuke did not wake. Crying, Sakura called him for almost half an hour before he actually woke. "S-sasuke," she stuttered, tears rolling down her eyes.

He looked over to her dreamily, rubbing an eye. But when his senses finally registered in his mind, he shakily stood and walked over to her. He looked over her for only a second before a tear fell, hitting her cheek. "S-sakura, he..." Sakura nodded weakly. In response, Sasuke collected her clothes and gingerly put them on for her. He sat on the bed, sitting her up. She cried out, and misery swept over his face. He held her in his arms, and actually cried. No sound, just tears. But that alone shocked Sakura. "S-sakura, I'm sorry he did that to you."

"He gave his blessings," she said weakly.

Sasuke nodded. "We're leaving. Screw the Akatsuki. We'll go live at my house, and I'll station ANBU around it. We'll have the baby and forget about all of this."

Sakura nodded, allowed Sasuke to hold her. He stuffed his headband in one of the pockets inside the Akatsuki cloak. He helped her up, to which she cried out in objection. _Walk it off, _she told herself.

Sasuke treated Sakura as though he had gotten drunk and done it to her himself. He held her bridal style, holding her close. They went to the training grounds, where Sasuke jumped off with her.

Sasuke went slow, and by the time they returned to Konoha, night had fallen. The two of them made it to the Uchiha manor unmolested, luckily. Sakura handed him his keys, he unlocked the door and entered. Sasuke carried her down some halls, around some corners. Sakura wasn't paying attention - she just wanted to sleep. Eventually, he found the room he was heading to, and laid Sakura down on the bed that was inside. Sasuke struck a match, igniting it, and sharing the flame with several candles that were placed around the room. For a finishing touch, Sasuke called up Shadow Clones, who left in separate directions.

"Tomorrow," Sasuke began as he climbed into the bed beside her, "If you're still hurting, I want you to go get checked out. I'll get as many ANBU around this place as possible - all we have to do is tell Tsunade Pein tried to kill you again, and I rushed in to help you, and brought you back here." Sakura nodded weakly. In the candlelight, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Sakura and held her close to him. That was how she fell asleep: safe, secure, and unafraid.

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning feeling much better. She wasn't as sore - she guessed the healing process had begun while she was asleep. Sakura moved a bit, turned her head to face Sasuke when she heard him say, "Good morning," softly. They kissed briefly, before Sasuke sat up and Sakura stood. "You seem to be feeling better."

Sakura nodded happily and said to him, "I'm a medic nin - we have the developed ability to heal ourselves while we sleep." She looked over to the candles which Sasuke had lit before. All had smothered in their own wax, accept for two that had been placed very close to one another - they had melted together, waxes combining. Sakura studied the two candles, thinking about Sasuke.

"That's good." Sasuke answered, opening a closet door. He swapped his clothing stored with what he was wearing and said to her, "We have to hide these. Somewhere only we can find them."

Sakura shrugged. "You know this place better then I do."

Sasuke, in his boxers, nodded and handed her is Akatsuki uniform. He pulled his old outfit out - the one he wore after he had returned from Orochimaru - and put that on. "I'll show you around." He said to her as he motioned for her to follow.

Out in the hallway, Sakura could feel the aura filling the house: an aura of murder, betrayal, bloodshed. That was the aura Itachi had left behind nine years ago. Itachi had left behind nine years ago. Feeling a little awkward, Sakura looked over to Sasuke, called his name. When he looked over, she wrapped her arm around his back and said to him, "I love you."

Sasuke smiled - something he was doing more and more of. "I love you too, Sakura." He led her to a hidden room she hadn't noticed. There were two gold torches bord1ering the Uchiha crest on the far wall. Sasuke storied the clothes in another hidden room. "That should be good enough," he said to her as he returned. "Now, she we talk with Tsunade?"

"I'm not supposed to be here at all until after the baby's born."

"We'll say Pein's lackeys chased you back here. I jumped in and brought you back here, because I thought you'd be safe. All this happened last night."

"Sounds good. You're a good liar."

The two of them went to Tsunade's and explained, asking for some ANBU to protect the Uchiha manor. She obliged, completely accepting the lie, and handed them a list of all capable ANBU. Sasuke held the clipboard between the two of them, and they skimmed through the names. "Neji," Sasuke pointed out, and Sakura nodded.

"Shikamaru," Sakura added.

"Tenten."

"Lee."

"Ino."

"Hinata." They both agreed on those six. Tsunade agreed, paging the six ANBU. They all made their way inside, behind Sakura and Sasuke.

"You're assigned to protect and defend the Uchiha manor as long as Sasuke and Skura want. There's people out for Sakura, so you must stay alert at all times." Tsunade explained to them. "Understood?"

There was a group, "Hai!" and each ANBU member followed Sasuke and Sakura home.

The six ANBU they had chosen stopped in front of their house and talked over who would be positioned where. In a minute, they had decided and jumped to their position.

"So...what do you wanna do?" Sasuke asked her as he put his hands in his pockets.

Sakura shrugged. "As long as I have you, I've got everything I've ever wanted." She meant this wholly, from the bottom of her heart. She looked into Sasuke's eyes, trying to tell him.

Sasuke must've seen her message, because he wrapped an arm around the small of her back and placed the other between her shoulder blades. He held her close, kissed her passionately. When he let her back up, he whispered, "And you're the only thing I'll ever need, Sakura."

"Sasuke, we should plan and train - it's a good idea for you to know at least the basics of healing, just in case. I also believe we should discuss travel."

Sasuke nodded. "And you need to strengthen your Sharingan, now that you have your own permanently. Come - we'll go inside for now." Sakura nodded and walked inside with him, his arm still around her waist.

Inside, the two of them sat at the kitchen table, across from one another. Sakura spoke first. "I don't think it's wise to stay here for too long - the Akatsuki are after us now. Staying in one place too long could get us killed."

Sasuke considered, "But we've got six excellent fighters - six excellent ANBU - as bodyguards. We've also got Tsunade - Konoha's Hokage - on our side. That's got to mount for something."

"Even so, you know the Akatsuki as well as I. They can do anything."

Sasuke nodded at this. "But if we move to another village, we loose our ANBU protection. I'd rather have some then none."

"All we have to do it move somewhere they either wouldn't think to look or couldn't look."

"Where couldn't they look?"

"Let's go over the list. Hidden Village of Mist: Kisame can't step foot in there. Kakuzu won't go back to the Waterfall Village..." She considered some more, before she felt her eyes widden. "The Stone Village! Deidara would never let the Akatsuki step foot in his village again - he'd fight them all himself if he had to."

"That's a good idea, Sakura, but I'd rather _run _there - if we absolutely have to - then move there now. I don't want to leave my home - not again."

Sakura nodded, looked down. "I understand." She looked up and changed the subject. "We should also train one another as much as possible, just in case anything should happen and I can't heal either of us."

Sasuke agreed instantly. "We should also put up a few protective jutsus - or at least have them put up. I don't want a repeat of yesterday." Again, he sounded as though he was taking all the blame.

"It's not your fault, Sasuke. I'm not holding your accountable for something you didn't do." Sasuke nodded feebly. "Now," Sakura changed the subject again, "show me around the house a bit more? I'm curious." And the two of them walked around the Uchiha manor, talking of nothing, enjoying the others company.

_**(Itachi)**_

He relayed the news to a fuming Pein. "At least I know where they are," Pein said as he swiveled his chair away from Itachi so he was facing the wall "Where Sakura is, Sasuke is. And I can still monitor her thoughts - I lied about it being active only here."

"I can always retrieve them." Itachi offered, although he hated the idea of fetching people like a dog.

Pein waved away the idea. "Let's wait a few months." Itach smirked - he knew what Pein meant.


	15. Chapter 15: Eight Months Later

**Chapter 15: Eight Months Later...**

For Sasuke, the months had flown by, in which Sakura's belly swelled greatly. Sasuke spoiled her with whatever she wanted or needed, but most of the time she didn't ask for much. She slept in the finest silk and satin, and wore his mother's old maternity clothes. In his house, while she was pregnant with the spark of the Uchiha clan, Sakura would not have to lift a finger. She seemed to hate that, but still, Sasuke gave her whatever she needed and did all errands she needed done.

Over the eight months, Sakura had perfected the Sharingan to three prongs, and Sasuke had learned how to heal. He could heal practically everything now: cuts, bruises, even broken bones. He couldn't heal as quickly as Sakura, but at least it was something.

Sakura had learned how to use her Chakra to see their baby whilst inside the womb. It was a beautiful baby girl - she had shown him how to do it, too. Ita was to be her name. Sasuke asked Sakura if she wanted to change the name because of what Itachi had done eight months earlier, but Sakura refused, telling him Ita her baby was and Ita her baby would stay. Sasuke had smiled at her unflinching decision.

This baby seemed to have brought the two of them even closer, and it hadn't been born yet. Sasuke couldn't wait for her to come - he wanted to see her grow, wanted to teach her everything he knew. He couldn't wait for her to activate the Sharingan for the first time. Sakura was in her ninth month, Sasuke knew, and so he didn't have to wait long. Ita was due, in fact, on his birthday, July twenty-third. _Happy birthday, Sasuke. _He thought to himself.

Night fell, and Sasuke and Sakura retired to bed. Sasuke made her comfortable, placing some spare pillows under her back to make it more even. He covered her up, then climbed in so he was against the wall. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. They fell asleep quickly.

* * *

A few hours later, Sasuke awoke to the sounds of swords clashing and people screaming. There were couple of swords clashing and people screaming. There was also the sounds of people being thrown against the house. Sasuke opened his eyes. _Shit, _he thought to himself, fully awake.

Sakura moaned a little. "Sasuke - ?"

Sasuke hushed her and whispered, "Keep quiet, Sakura. They've come."

"What do we do?" She whispered.

"_I _fight them. You just hang tight." She objected to this, but he quieted her. Itachi was right outside the door...He knocked, but Sasuke knew better then to answer. His mind was racing, but no thoughts formed.

Itachi entered then, just standing in the doorway. Sasuke gave him a vicious glare, clinging tighter to Sakura. "You stationed six ANBU around the house. Was it because you feared our coming for you?" He tilted his head in a curious manner.

"I'm not letting you touch Sakura." Sasuke growled, clinging tighter to her still. If he stalled things enough, backup ANBU would come...

"Either you come peacefully, or we burn the house down." Sasuke's eyes widened, but he said nothing. "Very well." Itachi turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura stopped him. "We'll go with you." She sat up and stood. Sasuke followed.

"What a good little kunoichi you are." Itachi sneered. Chakra ropes bound their arms behind their back. "We've captured your ANBU friends as well - they'll be coming with us."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"Foolish otouto." Itachi said simply, turning around and pulling them forward. They followed without hesitation. "We're bringing the ANBU to make it look like you two decided to leave, for whatever reason. That way there's a less likeliness that we'll be chased."

Sasuke looked to the ground and whispered, "Aniki is a genius, after all." There was no answer to that.

There were six Akatsuki, each pinning an ANBU of their own. Naruto had Hinata, Deidara caught Ino, Sasori held Tenten, Neji was pinned by Kisame, Gaara clenched Lee's arms so tightly his nails had began to dig through his skin, and Shikamaru had been outsmarted by an Itachi clone. The Akatsuki hadn't even bothered to remove the ANBU's masks. Sasuke's heart fell at the sight of them.

"Move out," Itachi ordered, and they all jumped off with their captors. The real Itachi followed behind, keeping watch on the two Uchihas.

* * *

At the base, the ANBU were thrown into a large cell facing two single units. Sasuke was thrown into one, and Sakura the other. He couldn't see her now. Glumly, Sasuke sat on the bed that was on the right side of the cell. But what he couldn't see was that Sakura, sitting on her bed on the left side of the room, had her back to him - they were perfectly symmetrical.

* * *

A day or two had passed. Sakura was due either tomorrow or the day after that. Sasuke grew worried. At any moment, she could start having contractions. And he wouldn't be able to help her.

After several failed attempts of escape, his ANBU friends had glumly given up. After two days of only bread and water, no one had the energy to do any more. Sasuke comforted the ANBU by telling them they had done everything they could and that he wasn't angry with them. This seemed to make them feel a little better, but when they looked over to a ready-to-blow Sakura, they panicked again. They knew just as well as Sasuke: Sakura could go into labor at any given moment.

But, the day before she was due, there were shouts from the Akatsuki about ANBU. Sasuke smiled. Backup had finally arrived.

Itachi, Deidara, Sasori, Gaara, Kisame, and Naruto came down to their cells and took the ANBU. Itachi himself took Sakura and Sasuke, and his Shadow Replication took Shikamaru. They left out a back entrance Sasuke hadn't noticed before, and quickly scattered into the woods.

The three of them hopped over the thick branches of the ancient tress. Sakura had been able to - almost - keep up with Itachi's fast speed. She was only a branch behind the entire time. Sasuke was proud of her strength.

Night had fallen before Sakura cried out and stopped. Sasuke and Itachi stopped as well, only one branch ahead. Sasuke looked back to her, heart racing. For a moment, there was nothing. But then, when Sasuke thought she was fine, Sakura cried out again, this time wraping her arms around her stomach and falling to her knees. "Shit," Sasuke told Itachi, then jumped back to her, holding her. He brought her down to the ground, helped her into a 'cave' of tree roots. She cried out again, laid down. Sasuke sat at her head. The only thought that went through his mind just then was:

_Fuck. _

_**End**_


End file.
